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DHAKA, Dec 1, 2025 (BSS) - Dhaka Special Judge Court-4, in its judgment delivered today, observed that convict Tulip Siddique had incited her aunt and then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, along with former personal secretary-1 to the ousted premier Mohammad Salahuddin, to facilitate the allotment of a 10-katha RAJUK plot in the name of her mother, Sheikh Rehana.
"Testimonies of two witnesses, along with their confessional statements recorded under Section 164, establish that accused Tulip Siddique had incited former Prime Minister and her aunt Sheikh Hasina, as well as the former prime minister's personal secretary-1 Mohammad Salahuddin, to arrange a plot in favour of her mother Rehana Siddique. The court found that she communicated with them through mobile and various internet applications, and also directly when she visited Bangladesh," the court said in its observation.
The judge further noted that accused Sheikh Hasina had committed criminal misconduct by violating all laws and regulations related to plot allotment, abusing her authority, and influencing officials and employees under her control to unlawfully arrange the allotment of the plot in favour of her sister, Sheikh Rehana Siddique.
The court remarked that corruption has now taken the form of a "disease" that has engulfed society, stressing the need for strong collective resistance to root it out.
In its judgment today, the court convicted and sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to five years of imprisonment, Sheikh Rehana to seven years, and Rehana's daughter Tulip Siddique to two years in the case filed over the Purbachal New Town Project plot allotment scam.
Judge Robiul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 delivered the verdict. The court also fined all three convicts Taka one lakh each, with an additional six months' imprisonment in default.
Additionally, the court convicted and sentenced 14 other accused-former state minister for Housing and Public Works Sharif Ahmed; former senior assistant secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works Purabi Goldar; former additional secretary Wali Ullah; former additional secretary (Administration) Kazi Wasi Uddin; administrative officer Md Saiful Islam Sarkar; former RAJUK chairman Md Anisur Rahman Miah; former RAJUK members Mohammad Nasir Uddin and Major (Retd) Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury; Tanmay Das; Mohammad Khurshid Alam; Md Nurul Islam; former RAJUK assistant director Mazharul Islam; former RAJUK deputy director (Estate and Land-3) Naeb Ali Sharif; and former personal secretary-1 to the ousted prime minister Mohammad Salahuddin -- to five years' imprisonment each.
They were each fined Taka one lakh, with six months' additional imprisonment in default.
Earlier, the case had been lodged against 17 people over alleged irregularities in the allocation of the 10-katha plot in the RAJUK Purbachal New Town Project.
ACC Deputy Director Md Salahuddin filed the case on January 13, 2025, against 15 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, and Tulip Siddique. Investigation Officer and ACC Assistant Director Afnan Jannat Keya submitted the charge sheet against 17 accused on March 10.
