Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Former Prime Minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was released from the high-security makeshift prison on the parliament premises on Thursday after spending a year in detention.

Authorities concerned set Khaleda, the three-time Prime Minister and widow of the slain President Ziaur Rahman, free from the sub-jail, after having received all the bail documents on Wednesday evening, local media reported.

Hundreds of leaders and workers of BNP and its front organizations, with red buntings and flowers, thronged around since morning to welcome their party chief after a long anxious wait.

The party henchmen yelled out of joy, clapped and chanted slogans as she drove straight in a motorcade to the mazar of slain President Ziaur Rahman at about 12:05 PM (local time).

Hundreds of leaders and activists including senior party men gathered in and around the mazar premises to cheer her freedom. Some of them also released pigeons and balloons to celebrate the freedom of their party chief, according to reports.

BBN/SI/SI/AD-11September08-1:22 PM