Her first few hours in jail

For many years, it was an office room of the jail superintendent before it was turned into a VIP prison cell yesterday.

The room inside the country's oldest central jail is now BNP chief Khaleda Zia's accommodation.

She was taken there around 3:20pm, after a Dhaka court sentenced her to five years in prison in a corruption case.

Once she reached there by a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), jail officials took her to the 300 square feet room on the ground floor of the administrative building. At the time, she exchanged pleasantries with them.

A physician checked her soon afterwards and found her well, said jail sources.

Khaleda will be kept there for the time being and the authorities will decide if she will be taken in some other jail, Towhidul Islam, deputy inspector general (DIG) of prisons, told The Daily Star.

“She will be under the supervision of the jail superintendent. But a deputy jail super and a nurse will be on duty round-the-clock to provide her assistance,” he said, adding that she would get all the benefits of a first class prisoner under the jail code.

Deputy Jailer Md Ashraf will stay next to her cell.

The room where Khaleda will stay has no air conditioner, as the building has not been used since July 2016 when the prison was closed and shifted to Keraniganj.

However, her room, which has an attached bathroom, is furnished with fan, sofa, chair, table, and a semi-double bed. Beside the room, there are cooking facilities, jail sources said.

The authorities are working to arrange a TV and a refrigerator for her.

A number of top jail officials, including the inspector general of prisons, visited her in the evening.

Khaleda was served with rice, fish and vegetables just after the sunset.

She will be allowed to walk around the jail area, said jail officials.

She will get newspapers and books and can request the authorities for any dishes she likes.

First class prisoners get bread, vegetables, eggs and tea or coffee for breakfast and rice, fish and meat for lunch and dinner. 

In addition to tightening security around the jail, the authorities have deployed 25 guards to ensure her security round-the-clock, jail officials said.