Dhaka, Jan 4: An arrest warrant has been issued against Bangladesh’s first Hindu Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on charges of embezzling 40 million taka.

Sinha, who now reportedly lives in the US, has been described as a fugitive by the Anti-Corruption Commission in its charge-sheet.

Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Dhaka’s Senior Special Judges Court took cognizance of the graft charges brought against Sinha and 10 others by the ACC.

The judge ordered Sinha’s arrest along with 10 others as the ACC accused him of misappropriating and laundering about 4 crore taka (USD 471,993) in 2016.

The rest of the accused are former senior officials of Farmers Bank including its ex-managing director.

The case came days after Sinha’s newly-launched autobiography brought him in political spotlight over two years after he was forced to quit amid a row with the government.

The ACC earlier said if required it would quiz Sinha by bringing him back home but interrogation is not a mandatory provision for investigations.

In his autobiography namely A Broken Dream, Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy, Sinha had said that he was forced to resign in 2017 following intimidation and threats, drawing a sharp reaction from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who accused some anti-government newspapers of backing him.

In a media interview after the book launch in Washington, Sinha urged India to support the rule of law and democracy in Bangladesh, calling the incumbent Awami League government as a autocratic one.