Sheikh Hasina Likely Headed To London After Stop In Delhi Amid Bangladesh Coup

Ex-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigned amidst protests and fled to India. Her military plane landed at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad while the Bangladeshi Army is now in control in her home country.

File photo of ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Source : PTI

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina's aircraft on Monday landed at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad, where Indian Air Force officials received her, according to sources. Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee denied that Hasina is coming to the state. Sources in Bangladesh have informed ABP LIVE that the country is currently witnessing a coup and is now under military rule.

Hasina who arrived in Delhi-NCR, aboard a C-130J Hercules aircraft, may depart for London later. She will be in Delhi tonight at least and will be taken to a safe place, sources said.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman held a meeting with President Mohammed Shahabuddin. India is closely monitoring the situation, noting similarities with the 2022 unrest in Sri Lanka.

Sources in Bangladesh told ABP LIVE, "What started as a student protest has escalated into a regime change. This could have been avoided." They also mentioned that before resigning, Sheikh Hasina wished to address the nation, but the military prevented her from doing so.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Resigns, Flees Country Amid Mass Protests

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, aged 76, has resigned and fled the country amidst escalating protests, announced Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman in a televised address. An interim government is set to be formed, with media reports indicating that Hasina, along with her sister, left in a military helicopter headed for India.

Television visuals captured thousands of people flooding the streets of Dhaka in jubilation, shouting slogans and storming Hasina's official residence, 'Ganabhaban.' The footage showed crowds in the drawing rooms of the residence, with some individuals carrying away televisions, chairs, and tables from one of the country's most protected buildings.

In a symbolic act of defiance, protesters in Dhaka climbed atop a statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father and Bangladesh’s independence leader, and began chiselling away at the head with an axe.

Student activists had called for a march to Dhaka on Monday, defying a nationwide curfew to press Hasina to resign. This call came a day after deadly clashes across the country killed nearly 100 people. The unrest has resulted in at least 300 deaths since early July, according to an AFP tally based on information from police, government officials, and hospital doctors. 

Bangladesh has been engulfed in protests and violence that began last month after student groups demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs. This movement escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.