DHAKA, Feb 8: A Bangladeshi politician arrested as part of the country’s emergency government’s crackdown on corruption has died in custody, officials said on Friday.

Abdul Kaiyum Khan, a city council leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), collapsed in the bathroom of the central jail in the capital, and died on the way to hospital, top prison official Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said.

“It is suspected that he died of heart attack as he had a history of the disease. We will now conduct post mortem to find out the actual reason of his death,” Siddiqui said.

Khan was one of over 150 top politicians arrested by Bangladesh’s army-backed government as part of a nationwide crackdown on corruption.

Officials meanwhile said two influential former lawmakers from the BNP were arrested for breaking emergency laws, which include bans on certain political activities.

The BNP was Bangladesh’s last governing party, but has been in turmoil since elections were cancelled.

Former premier Khaleda Zia, 63, has been one of the main targets of the drive to weed out corruption, along with her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina Wajed, another former prime minister and the leader of the Awami League party.—AFP