Heavy security, empty streets as Bangladesh awaits Sheikh Hasina verdict

Bangladesh witnessed an unusually subdued Monday as heavy security deployment and deserted streets marked the tense hours ahead of the International Crimes Tribunal–Bangladesh (ICT-BD) verdict against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a case of alleged crimes against humanity.

The capital city Dhaka, typically gridlocked on weekday mornings, woke to near-empty roads, with only scattered cars and rickshaws moving through heavily policed intersections. The eerie calm followed a night of sporadic arson and crude bomb attacks.

Unidentified assailants set ablaze the vehicle-dumping corner of a police station complex and detonated two crude devices outside the residence of an advisory council member to the interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. Multiple explosions were also reported at key intersections across Dhaka.

Reports from Rangpur, Chattogram and other cities indicated a similar atmosphere with thin crowds and intensified patrolling by security personnel. Authorities, already bracing for trouble after the now-disbanded Awami League called a two-day shutdown, ordered strict military, paramilitary and police vigilance.

Security forces mounted intensive patrols around the ICT-BD complex, the Secretariat, the Supreme Court premises, the Prime Minister’s Office and the diplomatic enclave. Armoured carriers, water cannons, and riot-control units from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police were deployed at major junctions, while checkpoints screened movement into and out of the city.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has authorised its personnel to open fire on violent protesters. “Anyone who sets a bus on fire or throws crude bombs with the intent to kill should be shot,” DMP Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali said late Sunday. Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Hasina, 78.

Dhaka has witnessed a series of clandestine predawn attacks since November 10, including crude bomb explosions outside the Mirpur headquarters of the Yunus-founded Grameen Bank. Several branches were also targeted with petrol bombs and arson, and a bus driver was killed last week after attackers set fire to parked vehicles.

Hasina, currently in India, was tried in absentia alongside former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. Former police chief Abdullah Al Mamun appeared in person and turned approver in an apparent bid for leniency.

Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim said the state sought the highest possible sentence and confiscation of the accused’s property for distribution among the victims’ families. Under ICT-BD rules, Hasina cannot appeal in the Appellate Division unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days of the judgment.

In an audio message uploaded on the Awami League’s Facebook page, Hasina rejected the charges and urged supporters not to worry, asserting that "this is just a matter of time”.

Hasina and her two aides are accused of alleged crimes against humanity linked to last year’s July Uprising, including murder, attempted murder, torture, the use of lethal force on unarmed student protesters, orders to deploy lethal weapons, and specific killings in Rangpur and Dhaka. Hasina denies all charges as “entirely false”.