Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent an SOS to New Delhi on Monday morning, seeking safe passage, before flying to India in a military transport aircraft.
The Indian Air Force monitored her aircraft since the time it was 10km from the India-Bangladesh border till it landed around 5.45pm at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad, part of the National Capital Region, sources in the security establishment said.
“Her request for safe passage into Indian airspace was immediately accepted by New Delhi,” a security official attached to the Union home ministry told The Telegraph.
Hasina arrived in a C-130 Bangladesh air force transport aircraft. National security adviser Ajit Doval and several military officers met her at the Hindon airbase.
“The IAF and other security agencies are providing security to Hasina. She has been moved to a safe location. She briefed Doval and the military officers who met her about the Bangladesh situation and her future plans,” an IAF source said.
Sources said Hasina was likely to stay in Delhi for a day or two before leaving for London, where she has sought political asylum.
“It’s not yet clear but she is most likely to travel to London. If she does, she will be allowed safe passage through the country to her final destination,” the official said.
Hasina is likely to meet her daughter Saima Wazed, who is based in Delhi as the
World Health Organisation’s regional director for Southeast Asia.
The embattled Hasina had left her official residence in Dhaka along with her sister Sheikh Rehana in a military helicopter around 2.30pm (2pm by Indian time), sources said.
“Hasina was flown to an army airbase in Bangladesh from where she boarded a military transport aircraft,” the security official said.
The C-130 is a four-engine turboprop manufactured by US company Lockheed Martin and is used also by the IAF, particularly for special operations and humanitarian crises. It has one of the best safety records among military aircraft and is considered the most advanced tactical airlifter. It can fly up to 3,000 miles (4,828km) on a full tank.
A security official recalled how Hasina had earlier lived for years in exile in India after the assassination of her father and Bangladesh’s Founding Father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of the family in 1975.
The IAF has put its personnel on alert in every eastern-sector airbase following the
developments in Bangladesh.
Modi meeting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday night chaired a meeting of the cabinet committee on security, which was briefed by officials about the Bangladesh situation. Among those present were home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Delhi police have beefed up security at the Bangladesh high commission. “More barricades have been placed outside the commission,” an official said.