The BNP has urged the home minister to move jailed party chief Khaleda Zia to the United Hospital in Dhaka for treatment.
The call came on Sunday when a party delegation led by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
“We have requested the minister for prompt measures to treat Khaleda Zia at specialized hospital,” Mirza Fakhrul told the media after emerging from the hour-long meeting at the Secretariat.
Responding to a query, he said that Khaleda prefers to be treated at the United Hospital.
The meeting which started at 3pm lasted for nearly an hour and at one point Inspector General (Prisons) Syed Iftekhar Uddin was seen entering the home minister’s office.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Minister Khan said, “The BNP delegation led by Mirza Fakhrul said that Khaleda Zia needs to be treated at a specialized hospital as she is suffering from arthritis. They prefer the United Hospital like before, but also said of Apollo Hospital. We told them all necessary measures will be taken in line with the jail code.”
The BNP chief has been staying at the old Dhaka central jail in the capital’s Nazimuddin Road after she was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on Feb 8 this year.