India, Feb. 8 -- Ramesh Chandra Sen, a senior Awami League leader and former minister in Bangladesh, died on Saturday after falling ill at Dinajpur District Jail, just days before the politically volatile nation is set to vote in national elections.

According to local media reports, Sen became unwell on Saturday morning and was shifted to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital. The on-duty physician declared him dead at around 9:30 am.

Dinajpur District Jail Superintendent Farhad Sarkar told The Daily Star that Sen had been sent to the jail on August 17, a day after being arrested from his ancestral home in Ruhia Ramnath. He was classified as a division prisoner and had been suffering from health complications, the jail official said.

Sen s...