Shakib home attacked after joining Hasina media event
Former Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan saw his ancestral home targeted in a violent attack hours after he took part in a media event with ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The incident unfolded on Wednesday in Magura town, about 170 km southwest of Dhaka.
A group of people smashed windows and threw bricks along with two petrol bombs at the property. A fire broke out on the upper floor, but the house stood empty at the time and no one suffered injuries. Police confirmed the details of the assault. Reuters could not reach Shakib for his response.
The attack followed Shakib’s appearance at a virtual event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi. During the audio session, Hasina made her first public media comments since she was forced from power in 2024. She declared she would return to Bangladesh in December and insisted the ban on her Awami League party must be lifted.
Shakib, a former Awami League lawmaker elected in January 2024, has stayed outside the country since the student-led uprising that ended Hasina’s rule. He currently faces several investigations involving serious allegations including murder, embezzlement, fraud and money laundering.
“I will return to my people,” Hasina stated. “I know that they may put me in jail or they may kill me, but still I have to go back.” The event marked the second anniversary of her ouster and represented her first open interaction with the media since she fled to India.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the appearance, calling it an affront to the country’s sovereignty. Officials warned that allowing Hasina to address the media from Indian soil could damage bilateral ties. Hasina, now 78, has lived in New Delhi since August 2024. Bangladesh has formally requested her extradition, a process India says remains under legal review.
In November 2025 a war crimes tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in absentia over the deadly crackdown on the 2024 protests. She has rejected the charges as politically driven. The attack on Shakib’s home has added fresh tension to an already charged political atmosphere in Bangladesh.
