Sheikh Hasina supporters clash with police in Bangladesh, torch vehicles

Detailed summary

Awami League supporters attacked police vehicles and installations during protests in Gopalganj. The unrest deepened tensions over Sheikh Hasina's planned return and pending extradition from India.

Supporters of deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League staged violent demonstrations in her hometown of Gopalganj on Sunday, attacking police vehicles and installations as tensions escalated over her proposed return to the country in December, PTI reported.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets armed with machetes and spears, setting a police armoured personnel carrier on fire and vandalising a police outpost, according to officials and media reports. Demonstrators also broke through police barricades, blocked roads and pulled down a monument marking the fall of Hasina's government on August 5, 2024. Several women activists also joined the protests.

"Our movement on the streets will continue until we can bring former prime minister and Bangabandhu's (Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) daughter Sheikh Hasina back to the country," Awami League's Gopalganj district leader Ilyas Haque told a party rally.

The demonstrations come amid renewed political tensions over Hasina's stated plan to return from India, where she has been staying since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024 following a student-led uprising that toppled her government.

Hasina, 79, was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025 for crimes against humanity over her government's crackdown on protesters. She has rejected the charges and the proceedings.

The former prime minister has repeatedly said since July that she intends to return to Bangladesh in December and face legal proceedings despite the death sentence.

Bangladesh has been seeking her extradition from India under a bilateral treaty. Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said on Saturday that Dhaka had completed the legal process to secure her return and that the decision now rested with New Delhi.

India has acknowledged receiving Bangladesh's extradition requests but has not announced a decision.

Bangladesh has also linked progress on Hasina's extradition to a possible…

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