Besieged Khaleda Zia spends night at her Gulshan office

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, besieged by security forces, had to spend the night at her Gulshan office.

Police cordoned off her office late on Saturday amid rising political tensions between her party and the ruling Awami League over the first anniversary of the Jan 5 general election that the BNP-led coalition sat out.

It is the first time she is spending the night at her office.

Khaleda's aide said police did not allow her to go home.

"She has been confined by the law-enforcing agencies since 11:40pm," her special aide Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas told reporters around 1am on Sunday.

Police reportedly barred her from leaving the office twice.

The three-time former prime minister was stopped around 11am when she got out to visit Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi who had fallen sick at the Naya Paltan central office.

Then around midnight she tried to leave for home but was barred again.

Detective police picked up Rizvi and had reportedly taken him to a hospital for treatment. They also searched the headquarters and locked it up.

bdnews24.com's Chief Political Correspondent Sumon Mahmud said a yellow pickup van brought in blankets and food around 1:30am for those forced to stay inside the Gulshan office.

Several other party leaders including Vice Chairman Selima Rahman, Khaleda's advisor Sabih Uddin Ahmed, central leaders Shirin Sultana, Syeda Asfia Ashrafi Papiya, Rehana Akter Ranu, Rasheda Begum Heera, Sultana Ahmed, TS Ayub, Shahjahan Samrat, Shairul Kabir Khan, Shamsuddin Didar, among others, were with Khaleda.

The office does not have separate quarters for men and women to sleep.