BD wants Hasina returned for trial

Bangladesh said Monday it has requested India send back ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to face trial after she was toppled in a student-led revolution and fled to old ally New Delhi.

Hasina's iron-fisted rule was backed by New Delhi, and the 77-year-old remains in India where she took refuge after her ouster in August, fraying relations between the two neighbouring nations.

"We informed the Indian government through a Note Verbale (diplomatic note) that we want her (Sheikh Hasina) back for the judicial process", Touhid Hossain, in charge of foreign affairs in Bangladesh's interim government, told reporters.

Dhaka has already issued an arrest warrant for Hasina -- last seen arriving in neighbouring India after fleeing Bangladesh by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace on August 5.

Hasina was summoned to appear in court in Dhaka last month to face charges of "massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity".

Dozens of Hasina's allies have been taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster. Hasina's 15-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

A spokesman for India's foreign ministry said Monday that the request had been received.

"We confirm that we have received a Note Verbale from the Bangladesh High Commission today in connection with an extradition request," the spokesman said.

"At this time, we have no comment to offer on this matter."

Bangladesh launches $5b graft probe

Bangladesh has launched a probe into the alleged $5 billion embezzlement connected to a Russian-backed nuclear power plant by Sheikh Hasina and her family, the anti-corruption commission said Monday.

Along with Hasina, the now-former prime minister who fled to India after being toppled by a revolution in August, those subject to the inquiry include her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and niece, Tulip Siddiq, a British lawmaker and government minister.

The allegations were raised by a writ seeking an investigation filed in the high court by Hasina's political opponent, Bobby Hajjaj, chairman of the Nationalist Democratic Movement party.

"We seek justice through our court", Hajjaj told AFP on Monday