Sheikh Hasina headed for Delhi? Bangladesh aircraft spotted over India, security agencies say…

Bangladesh News: As Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh on Monday amid severe unrest, speculation intensified regarding her destination. Indian security agencies have been tracking a C-130 aircraft, call sign AJAX1431, since it was spotted 10 kilometers from the Bangladesh-India border. According to ANI, the plane is currently heading towards Delhi.

“It is believed that Sheikh Hasina and some members of her entourage are on this plane”, the news report stated.

Security has also been beefed up outside Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi in wake of the violent protests killing hundreds and the subsequent political turmoil in the neighbouring country.

Sheikh Hasina once helped rescue Bangladesh from military rule but her long rule came to a sudden end on Monday as she resigned and fled Dhaka. Hasina's 15-year rule (January 2009 to August 2024) ended as she fled weeks of deadly protests and the military announced it would form an interim government.

On Monday, Bangladesh's army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, announced on state television that Sheikh Hasina has resigned and that the military will establish an interim government.

The resignation follows a severe escalation of unrest, with angry protesters defying curfews and storming Hasina’s residence in Gono Bhaban, Dhaka.

The violence, which began last month over civil service job quotas and broadened to calls for Hasina’s resignation, reached a deadly peak on Sunday. At least 94 people were killed, including 14 police officers, making it the deadliest day of the unrest.

Nationwide clashes between protesters and government supporters, involving sticks, knives, and live fire from security forces, have raised the death toll to at least 300 since the protests began in early July, according to AFP.

Ironically, the Bangladesh military declared an emergency in January 2007 after widespread political unrest and installed a military-backed caretaker government for two years.

Sheikh Hasina then ruled Bangladesh from 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.