Bangladesh protesters return loot from Sheikh Hasina’s house: jewellery, cat and classified papers

One looter who had taken a duck and eaten it paid money

Protesters in Bangladesh have started returning the loot from the residence of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina as the new interim government struggled to restore law and order after months of violent protests.

Some 500 items, including 120 pieces of furniture, 70 electronic gadgets, and 150 mattresses, have reportedly been returned so far.

The stolen items started arriving after student leaders who drove the protests launched a campaign to recover the loot and restore the prime minister’s official ransacked residence.

Bangladesh continues to be riven by violence with more than 100 people injured in capital Dhaka on Thursday alone.

The violence began in late June when security forces cracked down on protesters demanding the rollback of a contentious jobs quota for relatives of the veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.

After a brief lull, the protests turned into an agitation against Ms Hasina’s government. On 5 August, hundreds of protesters stormed the prime minister’s residence demanding her resignation. She fled away on a helicopter to India.

The protesters ransacked and looted the house, stealing clothes, furniture, refrigerators, laptops, a guitar, and even live and dead goats, chicken and rabbits.

Protesters loot a big metal box from the prime minister's residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5 August 2024 (Reuters)

An autorickshaw driver who had stolen 100,000 Bangladeshi taka (£659) from a drawer in one of the rooms has returned the cash, The Indian Express reported.

One protester, who had taken a duck and eaten it, paid money, while another returned jewellery, including a diamond nose-pin and a pendant.

Also returned were a pigeon and a cat. A cache of classified defence and security documents that was returned recently is being kept in a safe room guarded by the army.

The campaigners have set up a counter at the gate of the residence for people to drop back the looted items.

The campaigners told the newspaper they were trying to find a woman who was seen carrying a Dior luggage bag from the residence.

Meanwhile, more than 100 members and supporters of Ms Hasina’s Awami League party were injured when they were attacked by a mob of student protesters and political activists armed with bamboo sticks, iron rods and pipes in Dhaka.

The party’s supporters had gathered to mark the anniversary of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founder and the exiled prime minister’s father, despite the interim government cancelling it as a national holiday.

Protesters surround a suspected sympathiser of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina near the house of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka (AFP via Getty)

Ms Hasina had asked her supporters earlier this week to “pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying” outside the museum of her father.

The protesters have been demanding a trial of Ms Hasina in connection with the killing of protesters. Police cases have already been filed against her and her party’s top leaders as well as senior police officials.