Ershad Shikdar will be hanged till death at 12:01am for murdering Khalid Hossain, a Jubo League leader on May 16, 1999 at Skidghat under Khulna Police Station.

Three hangmen earlier brought from Dhaka Central Jail will be given the final brief this morning, said Jailer Farman Ali.The hangmen who have been lodged in three separate condemned cells were wearing plain clothes to conceal their identity as hangmen, added Farman Ali.

Jail authorities will deploy six platoons of Special Armed Forces (SAF) of Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) to beef up security in and outside the Khulna District Jail. The entire jail will virtually be put on red alert from this morning till the handover of Shikder's body in the early morning of May 11. Roads adjacent to the jail will remain sealed off from 6:00am today till 6:00am Tuesday, said jail sources.

Jailer Farman Ali will inform Ershad Shikder about the hanging two hours before its taking place at 12:01am, said Khulna Jail Superintendent Farhad Mia. Six armed men afterwards will guard Ershad to ensure he does not create anything untoward.

Ershad's first wife Khodeja Begum has been given the permission to receive her husband's dead body following her prayer to the jail super on Saturday.

Khodeja, however, will have to give the jail authorities a written undertaking that Ershad will be buried as quickly as possible and no procession will be brought out on receiving the body, said the jail super.

Ershad's first wife Khodeja, three sons Jamal, Kamal and Helal, only daughter Yasmin and his mother-in-law Ferida will meet him for the last time today, said Farhad Mia.

Ershad will be buried at Tootpara graveyard as per the wish he conveyed to Khodeja three months ago.

However, the jail authorities rejected Khodeja's demand for handing over the body without autopsy.

A team of three physicians led by the civil surgeon will perform the autopsy, said the jail super.

The authorities arranged medical check ups for Ershad, who weighs 75 kg, every three hours from Saturday. He is also being served special food, Jailer Farman Ali told The Daily Star at noon yesterday.

Meanwhile Ershad's wife Khodeja said she has received death threat by unidentified persons over phone asking her not to bury him (Ershad) on the soil of Khulna and that for non-compliance they will kill her three sons and abduct the only daughter. Khodeja in her letter to the jail super sought security fearing attack on the coffin and also on the lives of the family members.

Meanwhile, a committee formed with businessmen of Skidghat, Khulna Bazar and Station Road declared to prevent people loyal to Ershad from entering Skidghat with his coffin.

Ershad of Khulna came to limelight through his gruesome murders, many in public. A Khulna court condemned him to death on April 30, 2000 for murdering Khalid.The High Court Division upheld the judgement of the Khulna special court and the Appellate Division also dismissed a subsequent review petition. On April 9, Ershad prayed to the president to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment, but the president also rejected the petition.