Sheikh Hasina spent about 20 years living in a 3,600-square-meter palace in the centre of Dhaka that was initially constructed to house Queen Elizabeth II and surrounded by well-kept gardens.
She fled to India and sought refuge at a safe haven close to the Hindon Air Force Base in Uttar Pradesh after being overthrown on August 5 by a mass uprising led by student demonstrators.
According to intelligence officials with knowledge of the situation, the 77-year-old leader is currently residing in a secure bungalow in central Delhi, close to India Gate and Khan Market. The former prime minister of Bangladesh, who is still receiving death threats for alleged atrocities she committed while in office, is protected by several layers of security.
As The Print originally reported earlier in the day, Hasina has been residing in Lutyens Delhi since she moved from Hindon, according to officials on Thursday. She was also seen at Lodhi Garden, a well-liked walking destination in central Delhi, according to a Financial Times story from last month.
Citing threats to Hasina’s life, the officials cited above stated that her new home was an intelligence agency (IB) safehouse but requested that the precise location be kept a secret. In Bangladesh, she also faces an arrest warrant.
The inner and outer security cordon of all the safe house – one of three such facilities in central Delhi – is taken care of by the officials of the central agencies while “watchers and spotters” from the commando unit of the Delhi Police are deployed around the bungalows to keep a vigil on suspicious activities and people, one of the officials cited above said.
When Hasina was transported to Delhi from Hindon, a second official claimed that a sub-inspector (SI) from Delhi Police was accompanied for a few days by representatives of the IB and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“The sub-inspector was given very clear instructions — not to disclose details about the secret operation and the address of the safe house to anyone in his personal and professional circles. The SI was told that he shouldn’t be revealing any information even if the Delhi Police chief or any of his supervisory officers asked for the same,” the second official said, requesting anonymity.
After two or three days, IB and MHA officers took over the security arrangements, and the SI was removed from the protocol.
According to the second official, the Delhi Police also provided security protection for Hasina’s daughter, Saima Wazid, who is the regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and resides in Delhi. According to the officials, the two have met a few times over the last two months while adhering to strict and covert security procedures.
Once Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister who held aloft the legacy of her father and independence icon Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina ruled with an iron fist after winning the elections in 2009.
However, growing claims of economic instability and political repression prompted student-led protests that eventually swept into Ganabhaban, forcing her to leave. The interim administration is being led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, a fervent adversary of Hasina.
In the past, too, Hasina has had a Delhi address. After her father was assassinated in 1975, Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana fled to India, and lived in a house on Pandara Road for six years.
