Dhaka- A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday granted bail to three former ministers of Bangladesh's predecessor government run by a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance, two days after their detention in a graft case, court officials said.

Former finance minister M Saifur Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami who were also ministers of Khaled Zia's BNP-led alliance government between 2001 and 2006 are expected to be released Thursday, according to an official at Dhaka Central Jail.

"They will be released as soon as the court order reaches the prison authorities," the deputy inspector general of police (prisons), Shamsul Hyder Siddiqui, told local media.

A special court on Monday ordered the detention of Saifur, Nizami and Mojaheed when they appeared before the court on corruption charges. They were accused of illegally awarding an extraction contract for the Barapukuria coalmine to a Chinese company during their tenure in office.

The High Court granted bail to the ministers for two months at the behest of their counsel.

The court also ordered a suspension of trial during the period in order for the government to explain why the case should not be dismissed, a defence lawyer said.

Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her 15 cabinet colleagues and officials were accused of a shady deal with the foreign company, with the Bangladesh national exchequer incurring losses of over 1.58 billion taka (23 million US dollars).

Zia, who was also accused in four other corruption cases, was released from jail on September 11, 2008 after a year of detention. (dpa)