Eid-ul-Azha: Relatives meet Khaleda in jail

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia spent around an hour with her relatives inside jail on the Eid day.

Though her party leaders were not allowed to meet her, six of her relatives entered the Old Dhaka Central Jail around 3:35pm on Wednesday.

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Khaleda's sister Selina Islam, her husband Rofiqul Islam, sister-in-law Nasrin Iskandar, daughter-in-law Sharmila Rahman, granddaughter Jahiya Rahman and Tarique Rahman's sister-in-law Sahina Zaman Bindu met her.

They came out of the jail around 4:40pm.

However, the jail authorities did not allow them to take food inside.

Selina alleged although they had prior permission, they were not allowed to take the food inside the prison. “We brought with us home-made food, but we weren't allowed to take those in.”

She also said Khaleda was expecting to see other members of the family and wanted to know their whereabouts.

"We told her that only six were allowed to meet while we sought permission for 20."

Wearing a cotton shari, Khaleda came to meet her relatives with the help of two jail guards, said jail sources.

Family members said Khaleda caressed her granddaughter and exchanged Eid greetings with others.

Khaleda used to take her lunch by 1:30pm any other day, but she waited for her relatives to bring homemade food for her that day, said jail sources.

The jail authorities offered Khaleda vermicelli cooked with milk, some sweetmeats and Jarda rice in the morning, but she did not take the food.

On February 8, Khaleda was sent to jail after a special court had sentenced her to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.