Barrister Abul Hasnat, the first mayor of Dhaka City Corporation and a founding member of BNP, passed away on Friday at his residence in London. He was 82. Hasnat breathed his last around 5am local time due to old age complications, said his son Rajib Hasnat. Read: BNP pays tribute to Shah Moazzem He left behind his wife Nasreen Begum, a son and a daughter. Hasnat, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, went to the UK in 2019, but could not return to the country due to Covid pandemic. He served as the first mayor of Dhaka City Corporation during 1977–1982 and again in 1990. He was a founding member of the BNP standing committee. Read: BNP Vice-Chairman Shah Moazzem Hossain passes away He also served as the minister of housing and public works in the Cabinet of President Justice Abdus Sattar and Hussain Muhammad Ershad. He joined the Jatiya Party in 1990 and was elected to parliament from Dhaka-9 seat in a by-election as a candidate of the party. He returned to BNP after Ershad was overthrown in 1990.