Bangladeshi former prime minister Khaleda Zia was sent to jail
on Monday after a court in the capital refused her bail
petition.
The court also ordered Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman
Koko to be in custody for seven days for interrogation.
Khaleda Zia and Arafat were arrested in Dhaka Monday morning by
joint forces on corruption charge.
The Anti-Corruption Commission Sunday midnight filed a case with
Tejgaon Police Station alleging that Khaleda Zia while in office as
prime minister (2001-2006) abused power and appointed koko's Global
Agro Trade Company (GATCO) as a contractor for both the Inland
Container Depot in capital Dhaka and southeastern Chittagong port
on March 1, 2003 without following a proper bidding procedure.
GATCO, a private handling company, is often blamed for
inefficiency in handling containers. The shady recruitment of GATCO
and subsequent problems arising from it cost the state coffers 10
billion taka (about US$140 million), according to case details.
The army-backed present interim government arrested Khaleda's
eldest son Tarique Rahman on March 8 on charge of several extortion
cases.
It?arrested another former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on
July 16 in an extortion case and detained her in a makeshift jail
in national parliament building complex.
Nearly 200 former ministers and MPs of both Khaleda and Hasina's
governments were rounded up on charges of corruption, extortion and
abuse of powers since the caretaker government led by Chief Advisor
Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed took office on January 12 under the state of
emergency. Over a dozen of ex-ministers and MPs were already
sentenced in different terms by special anti-corruption courts.
(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2007)
