BNP chairperson and ex-premier Khaleda Zia's condition 'extremely critical': Alamgir
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia's health condition is "extremely critical", a close aide said on Friday.
The 80-year-old former premier was admitted to a hospital on Sunday night when she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs.
"Last night, the doctors said that her physical condition is extremely critical," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.
The BNP organised special prayers after the Friday prayers for the speedy recovery of the party's chairperson.
"We have sought prayers from the people across the country after Jummah prayers for the recovery of the 'Mother of Democracy', Begum Khaleda Zia. We pray that she may recover and return to the people to get the opportunity to work for the country," Fakhrul added.
Zia, the wife of slain Bangladesh president Zia-ur Rahman, has been suffering from multiple health complications, including liver and kidney issues, diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses.
Her only son and BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, has been living in London since 2008. Her other son, Arafat Rahman, died of a cardiac arrest in 2025.
BNP has emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
Earlier in the year, Zia returned to the country from London on May 6 after spending four months for advanced medical treatment.
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Man sets fire to gas cylinder on truck in Kerala's Kottayam, held
Kottayam(Kerala) (PTI): A 33-year-old man climbed onto a parked truck carrying cooking gas cylinders and set fire to one of them near Thalayolaparambu in the small hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 am, they said.
The fire and rescue personnel soon arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, averting a major disaster.
According to police, the man is suspected to be under mental distress as he claimed that he was walking from Ernakulam to his home in Marangattupilly here when he saw the truck on the roadside.
An FIR under sections 329(3)(criminal trespass),324(2)(mischief),326(f)(mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged against him.
Police said that the man was formally arrested, but will be released on station bail as the offences he is accused of are bailable.
"His family is here at the station and he will be released to them," the officer said.
In the FIR, police have said that the man opened the seal of one of the gas cylinders and set fire to it with the knowledge that his act was dangerous to those living in the area.
According to the company transporting the cooking gas cylinders, it suffered a loss of Rs 2,300 in the incident.
