The gangster, the general and the prime minister of Bangladesh

The story of how one of Bangladesh’s most notorious gangsters came to have the protection of an army and the loyalty of a leader.

“I can have you killed. But if I kill you, then you won’t feel the pain. I will make you suffer.”

Mohammad Hasan smiled grimly and took a deep drag on his cigarette. His hands, loaded with gold rings and bracelets, clinked as he described how he settled an old score with a rival. A cloud of smoke rose towards the ceiling of the cramped room in a money exchange kiosk on a quiet Budapest backstreet. He expressed little emotion or pity. It appeared to be just business. It was like a scene from a mafia movie.

Gang close to Bangladesh PM extracts bribes for state contact Bangladesh bought mass spying equipment from Israeli company years of Sheikh Hasina: ‘Development minus democracy Bangladesh director arrested after film shows police in a bad light “Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” the official said.

In a statement, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the decision.