The government is formally seeking India’s cooperation to secure the extradition of former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who has been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising in 2024.

Asaduzzaman, along with many other Awami League leaders, including deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, fled to India in the wake of the July uprising.

The home ministry sent the relevant documents to the foreign ministry on July 17, requesting that the matter be taken up with New Delhi through diplomatic channels, officials told The Daily Star.

Confirming the development to The Daily Star yesterday, Home Secretary Manzur Morshed Chowdhury said, “We have already sought the extradition of the sentenced former home minister through the foreign ministry.”

The request includes details of the ICT verdict, pending criminal cases against him and a recently approved Anti-Corruption Commission charge sheet filed against the former minister.

Bangladesh had earlier requested India to return Sheikh Hasina, who too has been sentenced to death in the same ICT case. But India has yet to respond.

The government has also sent extradition requests for those convicted in the murder case of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi. India has neither accepted nor rejected those requests, according to home ministry officials.

Bangladesh and India signed an extradition treaty in 2013, which was amended in 2016. However, it says that “extradition may be refused if the offence for which it is requested is an offence of a political character.”

It also says that certain offences -- such as murder -- “shall not be regarded as offences of a political character” for the purposes of the treaty.

A senior home ministry official, seeking anonymity, said the trial of Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had concluded and the verdict had been widely reported internationally.

“However, to demonstrate that the Bangladesh government is serious about bringing him back, the formal legal process must be followed. As part of that process, we are officially requesting his return from India.”

Asked why Bangladesh continues to send extradition requests despite India’s silence on earlier ones, another official involved in the process said it was the government’s legal and diplomatic responsibility.

“It is the duty of any government to seek the return of a person convicted of crimes against humanity so that the sentence can be carried out in the country where the crimes were committed.

“If India refuses to return those convicted by Bangladeshi courts, Bangladesh will be able to raise the issue in international forums, thereby creating diplomatic pressure. If we do not complete the formal process, India can argue that Bangladesh itself was not interested in their return.”

On November 17 last year, ICT-1 sentenced Asaduzzaman to death for crimes against humanity committed during the uprising. The tribunal also sentenced Hasina to death in the same case and ordered the confiscation of the properties of both in favour of the state.

The extradition request also refers to the ACC case against Asaduzzaman on charges of amassing illegal wealth and laundering money.

The case was filed in October 2024, and a court recently accepted the ACC charge sheet, which states that Asaduzzaman accumulated assets worth more than Tk 22 crore beyond his known sources of income through abuse of power and other criminal activities.

The ACC also alleged that more than Tk 87 crore in proceeds of corruption was transferred through nine bank accounts linked to him.

The charge sheet also names his wife, Lutful Tahmina Khan, his son, Safi Mudassir Khan Jyoti and his daughter, Safia Tasnim Khan, as accused.

His son was arrested in 2024 and is currently in jail.