DHAKA: Bangladesh Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said Thursday that several of his firms were “forcefully” taken over, weeks after his conviction in a criminal case his supporters say was politically motivated.

Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank but has earned the enmity of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has accused him of “sucking blood” from the poor.