Khaleda Zia's son remanded in custody

DHAKA: The son of Bangladesh's outgoing prime minister was remanded in custody on corruption allegations late Monday after a court rejected his application for bail, an official said.

The capital's main court ruled that Tareque Rahman, son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, be detained for a further month, deputy inspector general of prisons Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said.

"He was brought to central jail in Dhaka at about 10.15 pm (1615 GMT)," he added.

Rahman was last week arrested and remanded in custody for four days for questioning over extortion allegations.

Rahman had been tipped as a successor to his mother. He is the son of assassinated former president Ziaur Rahman who played a leading role in Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence.

He is senior joint secretary of the BNP, which led a four-party coalition government until late October, when it handed power to an interim government tasked with holding elections.

In January, President Iajuddin Ahmed cancelled the elections, stepped down as head of the caretaker government and imposed a state of emergency.

Since then, a military-backed interim government has held power and says it will stage polls when a string of reforms aimed at strengthening democracy have been implemented.

These include a major corruption crackdown that has seen at least 45 prominent figures arrested and detained.