The hospital's Director Abdul Majid Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com that Alim died while undergoing treatment around 1:15pm on Saturday.
Dhaka Central Jail's Senior Jail Superintendent Farman Ali told bdnews24.com he was shifted to the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to increased respiratory ailments on Tuesday. He was on life support since then.
"Doctors declared him dead after his life support was withdrawn around 1:15pm.”
According to the International Crimes Tribunal, Alim, a former minister of the BNP, deserved death for the ‘utterly heinous’ crimes he had committed but he was given life sentence considering his age and disability.
The 84-year-old has been at BSMMU’s prison ward since the verdict was handed down in Oct 9 last year.
Alim was found guilty of crimes like murder, genocide and loot in Joypurhat during the 1971 Liberation War. Nine of the 17 charges levelled against him were proved beyond a shadow of doubt.
The war crimes convict’s appeal against the verdict is still pending at the Supreme Court.
In a similar case, the tribunal had terminated the trial against Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf when he died in February this year.
Alim's body will be kept at the BSMMU hospital's mortuary, said DMP Ramna Zone Assistant Commissioner Shibly Noman.
He told bdnews24.com: "The body will be handed over to the relatives after an autopsy on Sunday.”
Family members, however, pleaded to hand over the body without conducting an autopsy.
"Since the doctors said that my father died of cancer, we have asked to hand over the body without conducting an autopsy. Let's see what happens," Alim's son, Khaled Bin Alim told bdnews24.com.
He said a funeral prayer would also be held at Banani before taking the body to Joypurhat for burial.