Thousands mourn son of Bangladesh opposition leader

DHAKA: Tens of thousands of mourners turned out Tuesday for the funeral of Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s son in a massive show of support for the embattled former premier.

Arafat Rahman Koko, 44, died of a heart attack on Saturday in Malaysia, a devastating blow to the opposition leader after she launched fresh protests this month to try to topple bitter rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Police inspector Alamgir, who uses one name, estimated the number of mourners at 50,000 to 60,000, while another police officer put the total at around 100,000.

Traffic ground to a halt in central Dhaka as crowds spilled onto roads around a mosque for the funeral after Koko’s body arrived home on Tuesday morning.

“I joined the funeral because I felt sorry for him. His mother is confined in her office and his eldest brother is in exile in London,” said Mohammad Nuruzzaman, a supporter of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Koko, who was not active in politics, has been living in exile in Thailand and Malaysia since 2008 after the then army-backed government launched corruption cases against him.

He was sentenced to six years in jail and fined $2.5 million in June 2011 for laundering money through accounts in Singapore between 2004 and 2006, when Zia was in power.

Despite Koko’s death, opposition officials said the BNP leader was determined to maintain a nationwide transport blockade she called to force Hasina from office.

Attempts to enforce the blockade have sparked clashes that have left least 36 people dead.

ON GUARD: Government soldiers stand at attention upon arriving at the military headquarters in Awang town, Cotabato city, southern Philippines, on Tuesday. (Reuters)

SORROWFUL: Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, right, mourns over the mortal remains of her son Arafat Rahman Koko lying in state at the BNP office in Dhaka on Tuesday. (AFP)