Mohammad Abdul Hamid, former president of Bangladesh, has silently fled the country on last Thursday (May 8) around 3:05 am. The incident came nine months after the ousting of the Sheikh Hasina Government in a student-led agitation across the country. As reported by the Dhaka Post, he boarded a Thai Airways flight from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The unexpected departure surprised the interim government. The ex-president was wearing a lungi and used a wheelchair for movement in the airport. Hamid had his wife, brother and brother-in-law with him. An image from a security camera of the ex-president leaving the country in a lungi has gone viral.

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Reason of easy departure

Hamid became the president of Bangladesh twice and is reportedly facing a murder charge. It seems that he left the country without any hassle, unlike other top Awami League leaders who were arrested at airports or intercepted while crossing borders

“According to Articles 34 and 102 of the Constitution, no Bangladeshi citizen can be prevented from travelling unless there is a specific ban from the court. We have not received any instructions to ban him. There was no request or application from the police to detain or arrest him in any case,” an airport official was quoted as saying by Dhaka Post.

Required action against Abdul Hamid

Bangladesh authorities have promised to take the required actions against officials who let the president leave the country. Students’ platform Students Against Discrimination (SAD) launched a protest and demanded punitive measures against the people concerned within 24 hours.

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“It appears impossible that the government knows nothing about the departure of a former president amidst such tight security,” SAD’s Dinajpur district convenor Ekramul Haque said during the protests, as reported by PTI.

Since Sheikh Hasina fled to India after the August 5 uprising, several senior Awami League leaders have been imprisoned or have gone missing. The newly formed interim government is now led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.