Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina was arrested Monday on charges of extortion and subversion, security officials said.

Sheikh Hasina Wazed, 59, prime minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, is accused of the current interim government of having extorted money from a businessman. Hasina was arrested at her residence in Dhaka on Monday.

Bangladesh police arrested Hasina on graft charges Monday morning and taken to the chief magistrate's court where she was indicted for extortion and subversion. The magistrate denied her bail and she was ordered into jail pending trial.

Hasina, who leads the country's largest political party, the Awami League, denied the charges, alleging the interim government is attempting to get her out of the way.

“It's a conspiracy to stop me from speaking for the rights of the people. I've done nothing wrong,” Hasina told the court, which was jammed with lawyers and journalists. The interim government in turn denied any conspiracy.

Dozens of supporters for Hasina thronged on the campus of Dhaka University. According to witnesses, many were injured during clashes with police near the court building.

Hasina was escorted by several hundred security men to the court, while military troops surrounded her residence.

The interim government has been in place since January 2007, appointed by President Iajuddin Ahmad under a State of Emergency. Hasina has been virtually under house arrest all this time.

Defense lawyer Abdul Matin Khasru told reporters at the court that Hasina was accused of accepting approximately 30 million takas ($441,000) from a company, as a bribe, allowing it in return to build a power station, while she was in office.