BNP chief Khaleda Zia will be taken to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj instead of the old jailhouse on Dhaka’s Nazimuddin Road to serve following her release from hospital, says the home minister.

“The building at the old jailhouse, where Khaleda Zia was kept, will be renovated,” Asaduzzaman Khan told the media on Tuesday (May 14).

 Khaleda had been kept at the Nazimuddin Road prison as the female ward at the Keraniganj facility was not ready, he said. “It’s now complete, so she can be taken there.”

The home minister’s remarks come after the law ministry shifted the trials in 17 cases to Keraniganj on Monday.

The newly-constructed Building-2 at the Keraniganj prison has been declared as the makeshift court in line with provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the official notice said.

A former prime minister, Khaleda has been sentenced to 17 years in jail in two graft cases. She is now undergoing treatment at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

She was taken there on Apr 1 after spending over a year serving her term at the old jailhouse, where a makeshift court was set up to conduct the trial against her.

The hearings will now be shifted to the prison premises in Keraniganj, at the outskirts of capital Dhaka.