Bangladeshi former prime minister Khaleda Zia was sent to jail on Monday after a court in the capital refused her bail petition.

The court also ordered Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman Koko to be in custody for seven days for interrogation.

Khaleda Zia and Arafat were arrested in Dhaka Monday morning by joint forces on corruption charge.

The Anti-Corruption Commission Sunday midnight filed a case with Tejgaon Police Station alleging that Khaleda Zia while in office as prime minister (2001-2006) abused power and appointed koko's Global Agro Trade Company (GATCO) as a contractor for both the Inland Container Depot in capital Dhaka and southeastern Chittagong port on March 1, 2003 without following a proper bidding procedure.

GATCO, a private handling company, is often blamed for inefficiency in handling containers. The shady recruitment of GATCO and subsequent problems arising from it cost the state coffers 10 billion taka (about US$140 million), according to case details.

The army-backed present interim government arrested Khaleda's eldest son Tarique Rahman on March 8 on charge of several extortion cases.

It arrested another former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on July 16 in an extortion case and detained her in a makeshift jail in national parliament building complex.

Nearly 200 former ministers and MPs of both Khaleda and Hasina's governments were rounded up on charges of corruption, extortion and abuse of powers since the caretaker government led by Chief Advisor Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed took office on January 12 under the state of emergency. Over a dozen of ex-ministers and MPs were already sentenced in different terms by special anti-corruption courts.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2007)