Bangladesh's former speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was on Tuesday arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, according to media reports.
Chaudhury was arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) in connection with a case filed at Lalbagh police station over incidents of violence and vandalism during the mass uprising, Prothom Alo reported.
A DB source said that she had been in hiding at various locations. Most recently, she had been staying at a relative’s residence in Dhanmondi, from where she was detained on Tuesday morning, the report added.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the DMP’s media division, M N Nasir Uddin, said that Chaudhury is currently being interrogated, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
“As far as we know, cases have been filed against her over incidents during the July movement at Banani and Uttara police stations in the capital. There is also a case against her in Rangpur,” he said.
The DC added that she is now being questioned and further steps will be announced later.
Chaudhury served as the first female speaker of the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad since April 2013 until September 2024.
She was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Rangpur-6 constituency.
Following the July Uprising that toppled the Awami League administration, most of the party’s top leaders went into hiding, with several former ministers and MPs facing arrest.
Chaudhury did not appear publicly during this period and was absent from the interim government’s oath-taking ceremony on August 8, 2024.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved the parliament the day after Hasina fled the country.
Although constitutional rules dictate that the speaker remains in office until a successor takes the oath, Shirin opted to quit before that transition, bdnews 24 reported.
She originally entered the parliament in 2009 through a reserved seat for women and served as the state minister for women and children affairs before her elevation to the speaker’s chair.
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