An attack on the ancestral home of former Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan happened Wednesday night, hours after he joined ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s virtual press conference from New Delhi. Unknown assailants hurled a petrol bomb at the house in the Keshabmor area of Magura town, some 170 kilometres southwest of Dhaka, burning the upper floor.
The attack happened sometime between about 8:45 and 9:00 p.m. local time. The house was also hit with brick chips, windows smashed, and the structure vandalised before the fire was put out. No one was home at the time, and there were no injuries reported.
No arrests yet in vandalism, police say
Local media quoted Magura Sadar police station officer-in-charge Md Abdullah Al Mamun as confirming the attack. “Some miscreants threw brick chips at the house and damaged windows. “They tried to burn the house down too.”
Authorities said Wednesday night they had not yet determined who was responsible. Police were called in to secure the property after the incident.
Shakib at the presser
Shakib, a former Awami League lawmaker of Magura-1 constituency, virtually joined the press conference from Sri Lanka. The event, hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in New Delhi, was Hasina’s first public media appearance since she fled Bangladesh in August 2024 and saw her announce plans to return to the country in December despite a death sentence.
Shakib has been abroad since the uprising that overthrew Hasina’s government and is under several ongoing investigations, including allegations of murder, embezzlement, fraud and money laundering. He is considered one of the most decorated cricketers in the history of Bangladesh and was a close political associate of Hasina before her ouster.
Awami League calls it political vendetta
Hasina’s Awami League party was quick to frame the attack as retaliation for Shakib’s appearance at the press conference, issuing a strongly worded statement condemning the incident. Burning houses: The cost of attending an Awami League press conference. Neo-fascism sweeps across Bangladesh.
The party went further, calling the incident part of what it termed a continuing campaign against its members. This calculated attack is yet another proof of the ongoing genocidal campaign against Awami League activists in the name of democracy-building.”
The party also said that Bangladesh’s major political forces, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) threatened legal action against media outlets that reported on Hasina’s press conference.
Part of a Larger Pattern of Unrest
The attack on Shakib’s home is part of a broader pattern of violence against Awami League figures and property since Hasina’s fall from power in August 2024, which has included previous attacks on the homes and businesses of party leaders. It follows previous unrest involving Shakib himself, who has been subject to hostility over his political ties in the past, including scrutiny during Bangladesh’s 2025 tour disputes and a murder case filed against him and over 150 other people in the wake of the 2024 crackdown.
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Continued diplomatic consequences
The incident adds another flashpoint to an already tense standoff between Dhaka and New Delhi over Hasina’s presence and public statements in India. Bangladesh’s foreign ministry separately condemned the press conference itself as an affront to national sovereignty. The attack on Shakib’s residence is likely to increase scrutiny of security conditions facing Awami League-linked figures inside Bangladesh as the political temperature continues to rise ahead of the country’s scheduled February 2026 elections.
Summary: Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced Sheikh Hasina’s virtual press conference from New Delhi as an affront to national sovereignty, accusing India of permitting the event despite advance warnings about its impact on bilateral ties. Dhaka renewed its extradition demand as the diplomatic rift between the two countries deepens.
