A new trouble has emerged for former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after a new commission investigating the 2009 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny claimed that she personally ordered the attack. The mutiny, which happened 16 years ago, led to the deaths of 74 people, including many senior army officers.

According to AFP, the commission has also made a serious allegation against India, saying that it played a role in weakening the Bangladesh Army during that period. The new findings were released on Sunday and have put even more pressure on the 78-year-old leader.

Hasina is already facing a death sentence in absentia for “crimes against humanity” related to her government’s crackdown on massive protests in 2024. The current investigation was launched by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government after Hasina was removed from power last year. The commission was asked to re-examine what really happened during the 2009 mutiny, which began in Dhaka and quickly spread across the country.

Commission head ALM Fazlur Rahman claimed that the then Awami League government had a direct role in the revolt. He specifically named former MP Fazle Noor Taposh as the “main coordinator,” saying he acted on Hasina’s instructions. Rahman also suggested that a foreign country was involved in creating instability in Bangladesh.

When asked to name the foreign country, Rahman said it was India. He claimed that India wanted to destabilise Bangladesh at that time. He also said that 921 Indians entered Bangladesh around the period of the mutiny, and the whereabouts of 67 of them remain unknown, which he believes is evidence of foreign interference.

So far, India has not responded to these allegations. Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi were already tense because Hasina took refuge in India after the 2024 protests that forced her from power. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who now leads the interim government, welcomed the report and said it helps reveal the truth.

Earlier investigations, conducted when Hasina was in power, had blamed the mutiny on long-standing grievances among BDR soldiers regarding pay and treatment. Her political opponents, however, have long claimed she used the incident to tighten her control over the military.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has once again requested India to send Hasina back. Foreign Affairs Advisor Mohammad Touhid Hossain said that although this issue should not damage the relationship between the two countries, Bangladesh expects her repatriation as she is now a convicted fugitive. Hasina was sentenced to death on November 17 for her government’s harsh response to the student-led protests in 2024. After being removed from power on August 5, 2024, she fled to India, where she has been staying since.