Khoka’s body to arrive tomorrow

The body of freedom fighter and former mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation Sadeque Hossain Khoka is expected to arrive home from the USA tomorrow morning.

An Emirates Airlines flight carrying the BNP vice chairman’s body, was scheduled to leave John F Kennedy Airport at 11:00pm yesterday, his eldest son Ishraque Hossain told UNB.

His first namaz-e-janaza was held at Jamaica Muslim Center in New York on Monday night in the presence of Bangladeshis living in the US, Ishraque said.

“We’ve completed all necessary preparations and received all the travel documents to take my father’s body to Bangladesh along with my mother,” he said.

Quoting BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Sayrul Kabir Khan, the party chairperson’s media wing member, said several janazas, including one in front of South Plaza of the National Parliament at 11:00am, would be held in the capital.

Khoka’s body would be kept at the Central Shaheed Minar at noon for people to pay homage to the freedom fighter, he said, adding that after Zuhr prayers, the body would be taken to BNP central office, and later would be kept at Nagar Bhaban around 3:00pm.

After the last namaj-e-janaza at Dhupkhola field, he will be buried beside the graves of his parents at Jurain graveyard as per his last wish.

Bir Pratik Sadeque Hossain Khoka, died at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on Monday. He was admitted to the cancer centre on October 18.

Khoka had been suffering from kidney cancer since 2014 and went to the US in May of that year for treatment. 

Khoka left behind his wife Ismat Ara, two sons and a daughter.