Former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid passes away

Former Deputy Speaker and BNP leader Md Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui has died in a Dhaka hospital.The 71-year-old was suffering lung cancer and breathed his last at 12:10pm yesterday at the United Hospital, the party's Heath Affairs Secretary Fawaz Hossain told the news agency.

A member of the BNP chief's advisory council, Siddiqui is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. BNP Chairpe-rson Khaleda Zia and Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have conveyed condolences to the bereaved family members.

A funeral prayer was scheduled to be held in front of its Naya Paltan headquarters in this connection. A second funeral prayer will be held today (Monday) at the National Parliament premises, said his son Parvez Parvez Arefin Siddiqui. The mortal remains will be then taken to his ancestral home in Naogaon, where he will be buried after another funeral prayer.

-bdnews24.com