A total of 832 bhoris of gold have been recovered from two lockers registered under the name of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Agrani Bank's principal branch in the city's Motijheel area.
These lockers did not belong to her alone, according to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Documents indicate that the gold -- comprising jewellery, as well as crafted items such as a gold boat and a gold deer -- was deposited under the names of several members of the former prime minister's family, including her sister Sheikh Rehana and daughter Saima Wazed.
ACC Director General Akhter Hossain briefed reporters at its headquarters in the capital on Wednesday about the findings.
The ACC official told reporters that the ACC had begun verifying whether the gold stored under the names of Sheikh Hasina and her family members was legally owned by her or not.
The ACC DG also said initial observations based on handwritten notes found inside the lockers suggest that the gold jewellery belongs to several members of Sheikh Hasina's immediate family, including her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana Siddiqui, and Rehana's son Radwan Mujib (Bobby).
The development follows the discovery on Tuesday, when authorities opened two lockers at Agrani Bank's Motijheel branch registered under Sheikh Hasina's name and found the huge quantity of gold.
The matter however has drawn wide public attention, prompting the ACC to clarify the status of its inquiry.
According to the ACC, Sheikh Hasina had declared one locker at Pubali Bank and two at Agrani Bank in the wealth statement in 2007. As part of the verification process, ACC investigator Md Masudur Rahman filed a petition with the court on September 14 seeking permission to open the lockers.
The Senior Special Judge's Court later allowed opening of the three lockers in the presence of a judicial magistrate, an investigation supervisory officer, a gold specialist nominated by Bangladesh Bank, officials from the National Board of Revenue's Central Intelligence Cell (CIC), and representatives of the relevant bank branches.
All three lockers were opened on Tuesday as per the court order, and an inventory of their contents was prepared.
The items have since been placed under the custody of the branch managers concerned, ACC officials confirmed.
After verifying documents kept in the bank vaults, a total of 832 bhoris of gold were recovered under the names of Sheikh Hasina, her daughter Saima Wazed, and her sister Sheikh Rehana.
Of this, 5,923.60 grammes of gold jewellery were found in one locker at Agrani Bank's principal branch.
Another locker at the same branch, registered under the names of Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, contained 4,783.56 grammes of gold ornaments, according to the ACC.
On the other hand, when a separate locker under Sheikh Hasina's name at Pubali Bank's Motijheel branch there was found nothing but an empty small jute bag.
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