Following last year’s jihadist-backed coup in Bangladesh, the nation is plunging toward an alarming and potentially irreversible crisis.
Foreign investors are pulling out, unemployment is rising at an unprecedented rate, the number of people living in extreme poverty is growing, inflation is spiraling, and the prices of essential goods are skyrocketing. The country is also witnessing a surge in mob violence, systematic attacks on religious minorities – especially Hindus – alongside brutal press censorship, gross human rights violations, the empowerment of Islamist and jihadist forces, and unrestrained looting of public resources through corruption and money laundering. Amidst these dire developments, another deeply troubling revelation has come to light.
In an explosive investigative report, Kaler Kantho, a leading Bangladeshi vernacular daily, has uncovered how key actors behind the 2024 jihadist coup are amassing wealth through fraudulent means – operating under the protection of Muhammad Yunus and his influential cabal. These individuals are not only orchestrating financial scams, but are also weaponizing false legal cases to demonize former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, prominent members of the Awami League, senior military officers, and high-ranking civil bureaucrats.
According to the Kaler Kantho report, a man named Saifuddin Muhammad Emdad Sarker – a student of Dhaka’s Alia Madrassa – has filed two separate cases in Dhaka and Chittagong, claiming to have been shot by law enforcement agencies at the same time in both cities. Notably, Dhaka and Chittagong are over 200 kilometers apart. Incredibly, the primary accused in both cases is none other than former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Saifuddin Muhammad Emdad Sarker hails from Kachipara village in Sandwip upazila, Chittagong district – ironically, the same district as Muhammad Yunus. A gazette notification published by the Yunus regime identifies Emdad Sarker as a “seriously injured July fighter”, claiming he suffered a bullet injury to his right eye.
The first case was filed on March 20, 2025, at Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court by M.A. Hashem Raju, a former vice-president of Bangladesh Chhatra Dal (BCD) – the student wing of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – acting on behalf of Emdad Sarker. Raju also claims to be the Vice President of the “International Human Rights Commission” (Bangladesh Chapter), although there is no record of him on the organization’s official website.
According to the Dhaka case, Emdad Sarker was allegedly shot by law enforcement on August 4, 2024, at around 11 a.m. in the Paribagh area of the capital. The complaint lists a staggering 201 people as accused, including Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana (mother of British MP Tulip Siddiq), various journalists, industrialists, and actors.
Simultaneously, Sarker filed another case on June 17, 2025, at Khulshi Police Station in Chittagong, claiming he was shot during a protest in the New Market area on August 4 and again the next day at the Wasa intersection on August 5. This case names 167 individuals as accused, including Sheikh Hasina and four journalists.
It’s worth noting that the two cases list different addresses for Emdad Sarker: “26/2, 3rd Floor, Topkhana Road, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh” in the Dhaka case, and “Sholakbahar, Al Amin Housing, Panchlaish, Chittagong” in the Chittagong case.
Beyond such brazenly fabricated cases, numerous student coordinators involved in the 2024 jihadist uprising, leaders of Yunus’s National Citizen Party (NCP), and figures within the current interim regime face credible allegations of grand corruption and money laundering. Yet, these issues have largely escaped the attention of the international community.
According to sources, leaders of the BNP and their affiliated organizations -particularly student groups and NCP figures – have turned the practice of filing false cases into a lucrative enterprise. These fabricated complaints are often used as tools of extortion, with victims being coerced into paying large sums to avoid being branded as “collaborators” of Sheikh Hasina or members of her so-called “fascist regime”.
Since the 2024 coup, the Yunus regime has compiled a list of over 10,000 individuals – including journalists, entrepreneurs, activists, entertainers, and Awami League leaders – and has imposed travel bans on them through the Special Branch of Bangladesh Police. These bans are often implemented without court orders or due legal process. Many targeted individuals remain completely unaware of the reasons behind their restrictions. Once blacklisted, victims are typically approached by rogue police officials and NCP figures who offer to lift the bans in exchange for bribes.
Even more concerning is the regime’s deliberate effort to dismantle Bangladesh’s military and intelligence infrastructure. Several months ago, a senior figure from Jamaat-e-Islami – an Islamist party that actively opposed Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 and collaborated with Pakistani occupation forces in mass killings and rapes – filed a case accusing former Director Generals of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and senior officials of the Counterterrorism Bureau of “disappearances” and “crimes against humanity”.
This calculated move, seemingly orchestrated by Yunus, aims to label Bangladesh’s Armed Forces as human rights violators and war criminals. The families of the accused officers have since faced intrusive surveillance, bank account freezes, unwarranted home raids inside military cantonments, and international travel bans.
In a broader crackdown, many active-duty military officers have been placed under house arrest for extended periods, even though no formal charges have been brought against them.
It appears that Muhammad Yunus is implementing a calculated blueprint to replace Bangladesh’s Armed Forces with a pro-regime militia – tentatively dubbed the “Islamic Revolutionary Army” (IRA). To achieve this, he plans to unveil a “July Charter” this month, effectively nullifying the country’s 1972 Constitution and transforming the current interim regime into a permanent “Revolutionary Government” akin to post-revolution Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini.
Once enacted, the July Charter would empower Yunus to unilaterally dismiss President Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman, and others holding constitutional posts. Alarmingly, during a June 13 meeting in London – already dubbed the “Londongate Conspiracy” – Yunus reportedly secured the support of BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, gaining BNP’s consent to join the proposed Revolutionary Government and indefinitely postpone any national elections.
It is also rumored that BNP has agreed to Yunus’s proposal to dismiss President Shahabuddin and Army Chief General Waker, and prosecute them under charges of “crimes against humanity” for allegedly collaborating with Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus and his associates are particularly enraged by General Waker Uz Zaman’s insistence on holding the next general election by December 30, 2025, and ensuring a democratic transfer of power to an elected government. Political commentator Zillur Rahman has warned that if elections are not held by this deadline, there may not be any elections in Bangladesh for years to come.
Moreover, Yunus is reportedly infuriated by General Waker’s demand for an inclusive election – one that would allow participation from all political parties, including the Awami League, which commands a voter base of over 45 million. Such a democratic process poses a direct threat to Yunus’s ambition of establishing a one-party Islamist regime.
Muhammad Yunus has emerged as the gravest threat to Bangladesh’s sovereignty, democracy, and constitutional order. Backed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, radical Islamist forces, and his own National Citizen Party, Yunus is pushing Bangladesh toward authoritarianism under the guise of a revolutionary movement. Unless urgent domestic and international action is taken, the country risks descending into a dystopian future dominated by religious extremism, lawlessness, and the systematic dismantling of its democratic institutions.
Bio: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist, writer, research-scholar, and Editor, Blitz. He regularly writes for local and international newspapers. Follow him on X: Salah_Shoaib
