Sheikh Hasina’s exile: Lutyens bungalow, heavy security cover

For roughly two decades, Sheikh Hasina lived in a sprawling palace ringed by manicured gardens that spanned 3,600 square metres in the heart of Dhaka and was built originally to accommodate Queen Elizabeth II.
A sweeping insurrection mounted by student activists deposed her on August 5, forcing her to flee to India and take shelter at a secure location near the Hindon Air Force Base in Uttar Pradesh.
Also Read: MEA says Sheikh Hasina is still in India, declines comment on arrest warrant
Now, the 77-year-old leader is living in a secure bungalow in central Delhi somewhere near India Gate and Khan Market, intelligence officials with knowledge of developments said, adding that multiple layers of security sheath the former prime minister of Bangladesh who continues to face a slew of death threats over alleged atrocities committed during her term.
Officials said on Thursday that Hasina has been living in Lutyens Delhi since she shifted from Hindon, as first reported by The Print earlier in the day. A Financial Times report last month also said that she was spotted at Lodhi Garden, a popular haunt for walkers in central Delhi.
The officials quoted above said her new residence was an intelligence bureau (IB) safehouse but asked not to disclose the exact location, citing threats to Hasina’s life. She is also facing an arrest warrant in Bangladesh.
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.
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A second official said that a sub-inspector (SI) from Delhi Police was tagged with the officials of the IB and ministry of external affairs (MEA) for a couple of days when Hasina was brought to Delhi from Hindon.
“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.
The SI was withdrawn from the security protocol after two or three days, as IB and MHA officials took over the security arrangements.
The second officer said that Hasina’s daughter, Saima Wazid, the regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) who lives in Delhi, was also provided security cover by the Delhi Police. The two have met a few times in the past two months under tight and secret security protocols, said the officials.
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.
But mounting allegations of political repression and economic unrest sparked rampaging protests led by students, who eventually marched into Ganabhaban and forced her to flee. Hasina’s staunch critic, Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, currently leads the interim government.
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.