Security forces on Monday arrested former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia along with her younger son in an early morning raid on graft charges.

Television footages showed Zia and her son Arafat Rahman Rahman Koko being taken from her Dhaka Cantonment residence to a court in downtown Dhaka amid tight security.

Earlier, reports said several hundred policemen laid a siege around Zia's Mainul Road residence inside Dhaka Cantonment since early morning.

Witnesses said at least 40 police vehicles carrying a large number of women police entered the restricted Dhaka Cantonment area and arrested the ex-premier hours after the Anticorruption Commission overnight lodged a graft case against Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and 11 others.

Meanwhile, the private BDnews24 quoted Zia as saying that she was not frightened to go to jail.

"I'm not afraid of arrest. People are with me. The case against me is false," Zia said adding it was part of a plot against her party.