India, July 14 -- Deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina will be jailed if she returns to Bangladesh, a state minister said on Monday, amid reports that the banned Awami League leader is preparing to return to Dhaka by December.

Hasina, the 78-year-old daughter of Bangladesh's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was toppled in a violent student-led street protest on August 5, 2024. She has been living in India since she fled Dhaka following the collapse of her Government. "If she surrenders, steps will be taken in accordance with the existing law. She will have to go to jail. The law will take its own course," State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam was quoted as saying by the State-run BSS news agency. Shama said that the governm...