Unknown attackers have smashed windows and hurled petrol bombs at former Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan’s residence on Wednesday, hours after he joined ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s first public media interaction since her removal from power in 2024.
Police in Bangladesh said that a group of people attacked Shakib’s ancestral home in Magura town, about 170 kilometers southwest of Dhaka. The assault happened around 9:00 pm local time and caused a fire on the upper floor of the residence.
The property was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported.
Md Abdullah Al Mamun, Officer-in-Charge of Magura Sadar Police Station, described the attack to media. “Several miscreants threw brick chips at the house and vandalised windows. They also tried to set the house on fire,” he said.
Police have not identified the attackers while deploying additional personnel to secure the property.
The assault came hours after Shakib, a former Awami League lawmaker, joined a virtual event organized by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi. During the event, held on the second anniversary of her ouster, Hasina spoke publicly for the first time since fleeing Bangladesh in 2024 and said she plans to return to the country in December despite an in-absentia death sentence against her.
“I will return to my people,” Hasina said. “I know that they may put me in jail or they may kill me, but still I have to go back.”
Shakib was elected to parliament in January 2024 as an Awami League candidate but has remained outside Bangladesh since the student-led uprising that toppled Hasina’s government later that year.
He faces multiple investigations, including allegations of murder, embezzlement, fraud and money laundering.
