#BangladeshUpheaval : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Resigns, Protestors Loot House ; Flees To India ; Asylum In UK Goal ; Army Chief Bats For Interim Government

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In  a dramatic development that stunned all, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina  resigned and was chased out of the  country, amid massive protests against her government that has killed more than 106 people dead. Hasina, 76,  was forced to quit amid mass protests against her government.

Hasina landed in India , at Hindon Air Base in a C-130 transport aircraft, said sources. The aircraft parked near the Indian Air Force’s C-17 and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft hangars.

Hasina is learnt to be travelling in a transport aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force and it is expected to have a stopover in India. It is not immediately clear whether the military transport aircraft will take her beyond India or she will travel to London in a different plane.

India decided to provide a safe passage through the Indian airspace to Hasina’s aircraft following a request from Dhaka, the sources cited above told PTI.

The ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left Dhakha in a military chopper. She was accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana in the chopper Prothom Alo reported citing sources that claimed that the Bangladesh Prime Minister departed for West Bengal in India by helicopter.

Protesters forced open the gates of Gono Bhaban and entered the premises of the prime minister’s residence around 3 pm today, The Daily Star reported.

The private Jamuna television news channel reported that Hasina was forced to quit as prime minister after massive protests against her government over a controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.

The army chief is expected to address the nation shortly, according to reports. The government earlier ordered a complete internet shutdown as protestors asked the general public to join a “Long March to Dhaka”.

Thousands of protesters in Bangladesh on Monday looted and vandalised Sheikh Hasina’s official residence in the capital Dhaka, smashed a statue of her father Mujibur Rahman with hammers and set her party’s offices on fire as they celebrated her departure as prime minister.

Videos on social media showed protesters climbing a statue of Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a 1971 Liberation War hero, in Dhaka and smashing it with hammers.

Her Awami League’s office in Dhanmondi and Dhaka was set on fire by the agitators who chanted anti-government slogans.

They also attacked and vandalised the residence of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the capital. Smoke was also seen coming out of the house.

The Army chief announced her resignation in a dramatic development amid massive protests against her government that claimed more than 100 lives in the last two days. The violence forced authorities to enforce a nationwide curfew for an indefinite period.

Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman said Hasina has resigned and an interim government is taking over the responsibilities. “I’m taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate,” he said in a televised address.

Dressed in military fatigues and cap, he said, “We will form an interim government.”

He said he would talk to the president to form the interim government and had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members – but not Hasina’s Awami League.