By Maqsud-un-Nabi
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh’s chief justice and central bank governor have resigned, officials said on Saturday, as student protests that forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country widened to target other officials appointed during her tenure.
Supreme Court Justice Obaidul Hassan resigned, Law Ministry adviser Asif Nazrul said in a video posted on Facebook (NASDAQ:) after students warned him of “dire consequences” if he did not step down. Reuters could not immediately reach Hassan.
Nazrul, an adviser to the new caretaker government, urged protesters to remain peaceful. “Do not damage any public property,” he said in the post.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdul Rouf Talukder also resigned but his resignation has not been accepted given the importance of the position, Salehuddin Ahmed, an adviser to the finance ministry, told reporters. Reuters was unable to contact Talukder.
A few days ago, around 300 to 400 bank executives protested against corruption among their superiors, forcing four vice presidents to resign.
Dhaka University’s vice-chancellor, ASM Maqsood Kamal, also resigned, the university said in a statement. Reuters was unable to contact Kamal.
The university has been at the centre of deadly protests that escalated in July over government quotas and have since morphed into a movement to oust Prime Minister Hasina.
Hasina has been taking refuge in New Delhi since Monday following riots that left about 300 people, mostly students, dead, ending 15 years of uninterrupted rule in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.
Since her departure, the country has appointed a new police chief as part of a shake-up at the top of the security services, which also saw the head of the country’s technical intelligence watchdog and senior military officials replaced.
