Dhaka, July 19 (bdnews24.com) – A Dhaka court Saturday ordered Shamim Iskander, younger brother of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, to jail.
Chief metropolitan magistrate AM Zulfiker passed the order after he was arrested Friday in front of Khaleda's Dhaka Cantonment home.
Shamim stands accused in a case, filed by the Anticorruption Commission, and also faces allegations of violating emergency powers rules.
Lawyers sought bail for Shamim, a patient with heart diseases, they said.
The graft case against Shamim was under investigation, according to Shamim's lawyers. In court, the lawyers argued that there is no provision in the ACC law of arresting an accused person before pressing charges, but this is an exception.
Shamim's wife Kaniz Fatema won bail from the High Court in the same graft case.
The magistrate said his court could not hold a hearing on the bail plea in a case under EPR.
The lawyers appealed to the court to make an arrangement for better treatment of their client and award him division. The magistrate asked jail authorities to take "proper steps".
Shamim was arrested when he arrived in the Dhaka cantonment to visit Khaleda's son Arafat Rahman Coco, who was released Thursday on parole.
Coco left for Bangkok Saturday.
Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman are behind bars.
In his reaction, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, the Khaleda-nominated secretary general of the divided BNP, told reporters Saturday that Shamim had been arrested to mount "psychological pressure" on Khaleda.
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