BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, 44, died in Malaysia on Saturday from cardiac arrest.
Khaleda's press wing official Shairul Kabir Khan confirmed the Dhaka Tribune about his death.
An official of Khaleda Zia's press wing, Shamsuddin Didar, told Dhaka Tribune that Koko's janaza will be held Sunday after Zohr prayers at Nagala Jama Mosque in Malaysia where he had become a citizen.
Party insiders say that Tarique Rahman, Koko's elder brother, who lives in London, will be attending the janaza. There is no word yet whether Khaleda Zia will travel to Malaysia.
“Koko died at 2:30pm (Bangladesh local time) on the way to University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur from his residence,” said a senior BNP policymaker Mahbubur Rahman.
Also a former army chief who retired as a lieutenant general, Rahman said: “Khaleda has kept herself behind closed doors in her first floor chamber in Gulshan." She has been crying and has not been taking any visitors ever since she heard the news this afternoon.
The BNP chief has remained confined to her office for several weeks now. Her two sisters-in-law, wives of her two brothers came in person to deliver the unfortunate news earlier in the afternoon.
Following the 1/11 political changeover in 2007, Khaleda and her sons—Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko-- were arrested on graft charges.
After their release on parole in 2008, Koko flew to Thailand for treatment with his family. Later, he moved to Malaysia and had been staying there.
Khaleda had last met her younger son in 2013 in Singapore. But the whole family has not been together since 2007.
In 2011, Arafat was sentenced to six years for laundering money during BNP-Jamaat alliance government. He was also fined TK19 crore.
Visitors from across party ranks have started swarming to Khaleda Zia's office in Gulshan. Koko's mother-in-law had also come to visit Khaleda after the news.