BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been rushed to hospital in the dead of the night after she was taken ill, her personal physician says.
“She suddenly fell ill at her Gulshan home. We rushed her to Evercare Hospital in the car of her younger brother Shamim Eskander around 3:00 am (Saturday),’ Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said, reports bdnews24.com.
“She is in CCU (critical care unit) now,” he added.
She is under the care of cardiologist Dr Shahabuddin Talukder, who has been looking after Khaleda’s treatment, Dr Zahid said.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir hurried from his residence in Uttara on being informed and saw to it that the 76-year-old former prime minister is hospitalised at the earliest.
Khaleda had a ‘routine’ health check-up at the private hospital on April 6.
She has been suffering from arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung and eye issues for a long time. She was diagnosed with Covid-19 and spent 81 days in hospital care last year.
She also experienced bleeding in the digestive tract and liver cirrhosis later in November.
Khaleda was convicted in two graft cases and was taken to jail three years ago. In April 2020, in the light of the Covid pandemic, the government granted a request from her family for a conditional temporary release from jail for “humanitarian reasons”.
She has since stayed at her Gulshan home under the care of her personal doctors and has had limited interaction with others.
Khaleda’s family has petitioned the government several times for permission to take her abroad for medical treatment. The government has repeatedly denied the request, claiming it is impossible under the current law that allows her to stay out of jail.