Dhaka: Three senior BNP leaders, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, failed to meet their party Chairperson Khaleda Zia in Old Dhaka Central Jail on Thursday as the authorities denied them permission.

Fakhrul together with BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas and Nazrul Islam Khan went to the jail gate around 3:35.

They, however, returned 15 minutes later as the authorities did not allow them to meet Khaleda.

Later, talking to reporters, Fakhrul said they had been there at the jail gate as the authorities gave them permission to meet their ailing chairperson between 3 and 4pm.

‘They now told us it is not possible to meet her today. They also said the meeting may take place after one or two days,’ he added.

Amid the report of Khaleda’s illness, Fakhrul last met Khaleda on April 6 andthe BNP chief was taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University the following day for some medical tests.

On February 8, Khaleda Zia was sent to jail after a special court sentenced her to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.