Prison authorities have written to home ministry seeking clearances to move jailed BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to private hospital under the supervision of her personal doctors.
The letter along with recommendations by the jail’s doctor and the Dhaka civil surgeon has been forwarded to the ministry on Apr 26, sources at the jail authorities confirmed Bangla Tribune.
Secretary Farid Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury of the ministry’s Security Services Division declined to comment as well as prison officials.
A three-time prime minister, Khaleda has been jailed after found guilty of embezzling foreign funds donated to the Zia Orphanage Trust.
She is serving a five-year term at the old jailhouse on Dhaka’s Nazimuddin Road since Feb 8, when a Dhaka court convicted her.
Sources at the prison described the BNP chief’s health condition as ‘stable and normal’. A doctor and a nurse is kept stand by at the premises.
Khaleda’s preferred hospitals are the United Hospital in Gulshan and Apollo Hospital in Bashundhara.
The BNP has been repeatedly called the government to move Khaleda to the United Hospital.
On Apr 22, its delegation met with the home minister, when it pressed for better medical treatment for the party chief.
Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul reiterated the demand while speaking to the media on Saturday, when he met Khaleda in prison.
Senior BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan said that they were aware of the prison authorities’ letter.
“We know about the letter forwarded to the home ministry. But a decision is yet to come. We have been urging the government almost every day, but it’s of no use,” said Khan, a member of the party’s policymaking National Standing Committee.