Shakib is a former lawmaker in the party of the dictatorial former leader Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a student-led uprising last year and fled by helicopter to neighboring India.

He has drawn public anger over his ties to Hasina and is among dozens facing murder charges over a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.

He has not been charged with those charges but is currently being tried on fraud charges for allegedly bouncing cheques worth more than $300,000.

A magistrate in the capital Dhaka made the arrest on Monday after a court issued a warrant for Shakib’s arrest in January.

Shakib was playing a domestic Twenty20 cricket match in Canada when Hasina’s government collapsed and has not returned to Bangladesh since.

The left-handed all-rounder has played 71 Tests, 247 ODIs and 129 T20Is for Bangladesh, taking a combined 712 wickets.