Khaleda can take treatment at Dhaka’s CMH: Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan

The government has offered to provide BNP chief Khaleda Zia with medical treatment at Dhaka’s CMH, effectively rejecting her family’s new appeal to take her to the United Hospital.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 12 June 2018, 11:29 AM
Updated : 12 June 2018, 02:24 PM
“If she wants to go to the CMH [Combined Military Hospital], we can arrange medical tests for her there. We will try to provide her with the best possible medical treatment under the jail code,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Tuesday.

His comments came hours after Khaleda’s family sought permission from the home ministry to take her to the United Hospital and bear the costs of treatment.

Earlier in the day, Inspector General of Prisons Syed Iftekhar Uddin said they decided to take Khaleda to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University or BSMMU, but she refused to go there.

The prisons chief’s statement prompted a BNP delegation to seek permission on behalf of Khaleda’s family to transfer her to the United Hospital.

“The Bangabandhu Medical University and CMH are better than any private hospital and equipped with specialists,” Minister Khan said.

Pressed to comment on whether there is any scope of treatment at the United Hospital, Khan said: “I don’t think any argument is necessary.”

“If Khaleda Zia or her family rejects the proposal for treatment at the CMH, we’ll take our next steps.”

The BNP has long been demanding the government take 73-year-old Khaleda to the United Hospital for medical tests.

Khaleda landed in prison on Feb 8 after she was sentenced to five years in jail in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

On June 5, she had a fall, prompting renewed pressure from the BNP to get her the best treatment.