Six days after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s US-based son Sajeeb Wazed Joy arrived clandestinely in Dhaka from Dubai, he sneaked out of the city surreptitiously earlier today after keeping himself aloof and not appearing in public barring his brief presence at a function in Savar on November 18.
Northeast News is in the possession of irrefutable evidence, including documents, which reveal that Joy, who officially goes by the name of Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, took an Emirates flight (No. EK583) from Dhaka to Dubai from where he will take a connecting flight to the United States. Joy’s residence is located at Great Falls in Virginia but there is no certainty that he will actually walk into this large property when he lands in the US.
Curiously, there was no video clip of his departure, whose absence stands out in sharp contrast to a short clip (apparently taken on November 17 evening) that showed him walking down a corridor of Dhaka’s Shah Jalal International Airport. The video clip taken on November 17 evening after he landed at the airport is now suspected to have been “inspired” effort.
Northeast News reserves the right to not disclose the nature of the document, but ascertains that the first letter of his surname places him right at the end of a list. But Joy had company on the flight – Javed Opgenhaffen, the Chairman and Managing Director of S S Steel Ltd. Incidentally, Opgenhaffen tied the nuptial knot with an Indian-born national at a lavish location in Paris in early September 2023.
It is not known whether Joy and Opgenhaffen shook hands or exchanged pleasantries before or after boarding the flight, but what is certain is that the Bangladesh prime minister’s son maintained a low profile during his six-day Dhaka sojourn. What dictated such behaviour is partially understandable – perhaps a certain legal issue in the US.
An Awami League TV channel had said during a November 4 live programme that Joy would reach Dhaka by mid-November and that he would interact with the media. But not only did he not interact with any media platform, he remained almost completely closeted in the secure confines of Ganabhaban, the prime minister’s official residence in Dhaka.
It is reliably learnt that he did not meet with any of his friends in the Awami League or in Dhaka’s business circles, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. The most important being the nature of the legal difficulty that he might be faced with in the US. Was an old case reopened or did investigators there dig deep enough to find hitherto unknown facts which needs even closer scrutiny?
For the record, Sajeeb Wazed’s matter came up for discussion during the September 27 meeting between Sheikh Hasina and US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan at the Bangladesh embassy in Washington DC.
While questions loom large over Sajeeb Wazed’s “need” to take to clandestine means to enter and exit Dhaka, political observers in the Bangladesh capital wonder whether the limited exposure in public was part of a “certain constraints” imposed as a consequence of any ongoing inquiry in the United States.
What is, however, certain is that Sajeeb Wazed returned to the US – via Dubai – after securing the Sheikh Hasina government’s nod to his continuation as the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) advisor to the prime minister – his mother. Retaining the post would guarantee diplomatic immunity – by virtue of holding a diplomatic passport – from any legal action in the US.
