Sharmila Rahman Shithi, wife of her late son Arafat Rahman Koko, along with her two daughters met BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia for a while on Saturday at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
Right after completion of her tests at Radiology and Imaging department of the BSMMU, Shithi and her two daughters-Zafiya Rahman and Zahiya Rahman-met Khaleda. They got the chance just to exchange greetings with her, a high official of the BSMMU told UNB preferring anonymity. Khaleda’s lawyer and BNP joint secretary general Mahbub Uddin Khokan said he arranged the brief meeting in consultation with the jail authorities. He said the BNP chief had a very brief conversation with her daughter-in-law and two granddaughters. Earlier, police restricted Shithi when she along with her two daughters tried to enter the cabin block around 12noon. Then she waited on the hospital premises in their car for some time while the leaders and activists of Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal surrounded the vehicle and chanted anti-government slogans.
Later, police dispersed the BNP activists and arrested 4 to 5 people them. At one stage, Khaleda’s lawyer Khokan and Sanaullah Miah talked to Shithi and took them to a BSMMU room. Police also barred Afroza Abbas, president of Mahila Dal and wife of BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas from visiting Khaleda. The BNP chairperson was taken back to Dhaka central jail from BSMMU after her medical check-up and tests. Khaleda Zia fell sick in the jail on March 29 and postponed a scheduled meeting with its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. On April 1, the government formed a medical team with four professors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital to examine her health condition and ensure her treatment in the jail.
On February 8 last, a special court here sentenced Khaleda to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
