A navy officer on duty also barred Rabbani's wife from coming out of the house to meet Hasina, who was waiting at the navy gate to the residence.

"You will have to take permission from AFD (Armed Forces Division) or DGFI (Directorate General of Forces Intelligence) as it is a defence installation," the officer, his nametag put off, told the opposition leader who went there at around 11:15am.

Hasina, also the Awami League (AL) president, went to meet Rabbani's wife and family members as the fatally bullet-wounded Rabbani, a former navy commodore, slipped into a deep coma in a Bangkok hospital.

Rabbani was also an aide-de-camp (ADC) of slain president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a witness in the Bangabandhu Murder Case and the Jail Killing Case.

An annoyed Hasina asked the officer, "Why will I have to take permission from the authorities to meet a person at her residence? I was also in charge of the defence ministry and I know what a defence installation is and the laws and rules."

"Which country are we living in? Is it a jungle? I did not obstruct Khaleda Zia when she was the opposition leader and staying in the (Dhaka) cantonment," she said.