Staff Reporter :Arafat Rahman Koko, the younger son of late President Ziaur Rahman and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday due to massive cardiac attack. He was 45. He breathed his last on the way to the Malaya University Hospital in Kuala Lumpur where the on duty doctor declared him dead around 2:00 pm Bangladesh time. He complained chest pain around 12:00 pm at his residence in Kuala Lumpur. Later, the relatives and family members took him to the hospital. Wives of Koko and Tarique Rahman, Khaleda Zia’s elder son, informed Begum Zia about the death around 2:30pm. The body of Koko was kept at the mortuary of Malaya University Hospital. His first Namaj-e-Janaza will be held today (Sunday) after Zohr prayers at Masjid-e-Negera in Kuala Lumpur, the national mosque of Malaysia. After the Janaza, his body will be brought back to Bangladesh. But, the decision wil be taken later.Tarique Rahman, who has been staying in London, left for Malaysia to attend the Namaz-e-Janaza.Khaleda Zia, who has been staying in her political office at Gulshan in the city since January 3, broke down in tears on hearing the news of his younger son’s premature death. Later, a Quran Khani was arranged there. Following the death news, Khaleda Zia’s sister Selima Islam, wives of her two brothers late Sayed Iskander and Shamim Iskander and other relatives reached the Gulshan office to console Khaleda Zia.Senior leaders the BNP, its alliance partners and other parties also visited the Gulshan office to console the BNP chief. Among them, BNP senior leaders Lt Gen (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman, Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah, Shah Moazzem Hossain, Abdullah-al-Noman and Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf and Kalyan Party chief Maj Gen (retd) Syed Ibrahim Birpratik, Former VC of Dhaka University Prof Dr Emajuddin Ahmed and other professionals also visited the Gulshan office. The BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Bangladesh Kalyan Party, Bangladesh NAP, Bangladesh Islamic Party and some other parties and organisations expressed deep shock at the death of Khaleda Zia’s younger son. In separate statements, they prayed for salvation of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members. Arafat Rahman Koko along with his wife and two daughters was staying at a rented house in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur for treatment purpose. Following the 1/11 political changeover in 2007, Koko was arrested on September 3 that year along with his mother and elder brother from their residence at Dhaka cantonment. He was released on parole on July 17 in 2008. He left Bangladesh for Bangkok on July 19 on two-month parole. Later, the duration of the parole was extended several times. Later, he moved to Malaysia and had been staying there for several years. Koko was awarded six-years imprisonment on June 23 in 2011 in absentia in a money laundering case.
