Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed amassed movable and immovable assets worth several thousand crore taka through abuse of power, bribery and corruption while in office, according to allegations against him. The picture emerged in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation into six cases.
The ACC said Benazir also laundered crores of taka in assets abroad. He was arrested in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, by police on Sunday in connection with the ACC cases.
According to ACC sources, on December 15, 2024, the ACC filed five cases against Benazir, his wife Jishan Mirza, and daughters Farheen Rishta Benazir and Tahsin Raisa Binte Benazir over allegations of amassing assets worth Tk 74 crore 13 lakh. They also face allegations of concealing information about the assets.
Another case was filed against Benazir on December 15, 2024, over allegations of acquiring known-source-mismatched assets worth Tk 9 crore 44 lakh. The charge sheet in this case was submitted to the court on November 30 last year. In the charge sheet, the amount of assets rose to Tk 11 crore. In this case the ACC had applied to the court to have him arrested abroad and brought back to the country.
Passport forgery case
On October 14, 2024, the ACC filed a case against five people, including former police IGP Benazir Ahmed, over allegations of obtaining an ordinary passport by posing as a private-sector employee through criminal misconduct and deception. While serving as Dhaka police commissioner and director general of RAB, Benazir Ahmed listed his profession as “private service” in the “profession” section of his passport application form, submitted through a police DIG, the ACC said. Despite being a government employee, he resorted to forgery and falsehood to list “private service” and at various times applied for machine-readable passports (MRP) and e-passports (electronic passport) without departmental no-objection certificates (NOC), according to the allegations.
Market value of the assets
While in office, Benazir Ahmed acquired all manner of immovable assets at mouza value, that is at the government rate. He became the owner of much land through coercion by intimidating local people, the ACC said. In the ACC’s six cases, Benazir and his family members face allegations of amassing illegal assets worth Tk 85 crore 13 lakh. The current market value of these assets is several thousand crore taka.
Among them, a vast resort was built on 600 acres of land at Tuthamandra mouza in Gopalganj Sadar. Its current market value is estimated at around a thousand crore taka. The resort has 28 ponds in total, including one on 20 acres of land. It has 12 cottages including four duplexes, a swimming pool, a children’s park, and orchards of local and foreign fruit. The resort was built starting in 2016. It was attached by court order. The deputy director of the Gopalganj Department of Agricultural Extension and a district fisheries officer are currently serving as receivers of the resort. He also has two luxury villas in Narayanganj.
Four flats in Dhaka’s Gulshan
Four flats belonging to Benazir in Rankin Tower in the capital’s upscale Gulshan area are in the ACC’s custody. The two duplexes, each 4,595 square feet for a total of 9,190 square feet, have five bedrooms across two floors. The distance from one room to another is 25 to 30 square feet. The building, named Rankin Icon Tower, was built on 19 katha 12 chhatak of land.
Each flat is worth four to five crore taka. In that case, Benazir Ahmed used his influence to buy the flats for a little over half a crore taka each. On the 13th floor of the building, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a private office were built. On the 14th floor there are three bedrooms, with the rest of the space left open. The rooms were furnished with expensive beds and wooden wall cabinets.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report