DHAKA: Bangladesh brought fresh graft charges on Thursday against detained former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, accusing her of embezzling money from an orphanage.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case accusing Khaleda, her detained elder son and political heir Tareque Rahman and five others of embezzling 21 million taka($306,480), officials said, as her party continued to demand her immediate and unconditional release.

“We have filed the case at Dhaka’s Ramna police station with sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges,” a senior ACC official told reporters. Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since an army-backed interim government took charge in January last year following months of political violence.

Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has rejected a government offer to talk with it ahead of a national election the administration has pledged to hold in December.

The BNP also opposed a government plan to hold local council polls while its rival Awami League, headed by paroled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, supported the local election.