A Bangladeshi court ordered the seizure of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan’s assets in the latest legal headache for the sports star over his allegiance to the country’s former leader.

Shakib is a former lawmaker from the party of autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina, who was overthrown in a student-led uprising last year and fled by helicopter to neighbouring India.

His links to Hasina made him a target of public anger and he was among dozens facing murder investigations for a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.

He has not been charged over those allegations but is currently being prosecuted on fraud charges for allegedly bouncing cheques totalling more than $300,000.

A magistrate in the capital Dhaka ordered the seizure on Monday after a warrant for Shakib’s arrest was issued by the court in January.

Shakib was playing in a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Canada when Hasina’s government collapsed and has not returned to Bangladesh since.

The left-arm allrounder has played 71 Tests, 247 one-day internationals and 129 Twenty20s for Bangladesh, taking a combined 712 wickets.

Opinion

Editorial

JAAC ban
Updated 07 Jun, 2026

JAAC ban

Though the JAAC’s demands are open to scrutiny, banning any political organisation — as long as it remains committed to peaceful activism — is undemocratic.
GB election
Updated 07 Jun, 2026

GB election

It is important that whichever party ultimately forms the government puts the needs of the people of GB above everything else.
ODI win
07 Jun, 2026

ODI win

AT last, the Pakistan cricket team had something to celebrate: a One-day International series victory against...
Trump rebuked
Updated 06 Jun, 2026

Trump rebuked

OBSERVERS across the world have long questioned the utility of Donald Trump’s now three-month-old war on Iran. But...
Hostile water motives
06 Jun, 2026

Hostile water motives

INDIA’S latest move to advance the Chenab-Beas Link Tunnel Project and its plan to flush silt from the Salal Dam...
Polio progress
06 Jun, 2026

Polio progress

PAKISTAN’S latest sub-national polio campaign offers encouraging evidence that the country can still push back...