BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh on Thursday after 17 years in exile, as the aircraft carrying him landed at Sylhet’s Osmani International Airport.

The Biman Bangladesh Airlines scheduled commercial flight BG-202 touched down on Bangladeshi soil around 10:00am on Thursday.

The flight departed London’s Heathrow Airport shortly after midnight Bangladesh time on Thursday, heading for Dhaka with a stopover in Sylhet.

Tarique Rahman was accompanied by his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, and their daughter, barrister Zaima Rahman, who also returned to the country on the same flight.

After entering Bangladesh’s airspace in the morning, Tarique Rahman shared a post on social media platform Facebook, writing: “Back in the skies of Bangladesh after 6,314 days.”

Following a one-hour stopover in Sylhet, the aircraft is scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka between 11:45am and 12:00 noon.

After landing in Dhaka, Tarique Rahman is expected to head to the July 36 Expressway area in Purbachal, popularly known as the 300 Feet road, to express his gratitude to people. He will later visit his mother and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia at Evercare Hospital.