Benazir Ahmed
The High Court has ordered to submit a report within two months after investigating the corruption allegations against the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed.
Justice Md. on the hearing of a writ petition in this regard. A bench of Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadat Hossain directed the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday.
Supreme Court lawyer. Salah Uddin Regan A Writ Petition; Benazir Ahmed has also been made a respondent in the application.
Advocate Shah Manjurul Haque and Saeed Ahdem Raza heard on behalf of Benazir Ahmed.
Later, Shah Manjurul Haque told reporters, “The writ petition asked why the failure to take action should not be declared as a failure of the ACC despite the publication of the report in the newspaper. Benazir Ahmed was made defendant number 5 in the writ.
“Me and Saeed Ahmed Raja were lawyers for him. We have said that since the ACC formed an investigation committee on April 18 and today ACC lawyer Mr. Khurshid Alam Khan submitted that report to the court, so the ‘inaction’ and ‘failure’ of the ACC as sought in the writ does not exist.
“Therefore, the court did not issue any rule, nor did it give any direction. But Suomto gave an order. Since the ACC has started the enquiry, the ACC should give a progress report after two months.”
Benazir retired as per Government Service Act on completing 59 years on 30 September 2022. Before becoming IGP, he also served as RAB chief and DMP commissioner.
On March 31, ‘Aladdin’s lamp in Benazir’s house’ and ‘Benzir’s resort in forest’ on April 3, Daily Kale Kantha, owned by Bashundhara Group, published two reports. Allegations of acquiring illegal wealth were raised against former IGP Benazir Ahmed.
According to the report, Benji’s family has built an eco-resort on about 1400 bigha of land in Gopalganj. Besides, the former IGP has several flats and houses in Dhaka and Purbachal.
The report of the daily has also brought accusations of encroaching forest land and building a resort in Gazipur. The newspaper claims that Benji’s family owns a quarter of the resort.
During the discussion on the matter, Habiganj-4 Constituency Member of Parliament Syed Saidul Haque Sumon on Sunday appealed to the ACC to investigate the illegal assets of Benazir and her family members and take necessary legal measures.
Then on April 18, the Anti-Corruption Commission decided to investigate the complaint in the commission meeting. For that a committee of three members was formed.
The members of the search committee are Deputy Director Hafizul Islam, Assistant Director Niamul Hasan Ghazi and Zainal Abedin.
Although he did not talk to the media about the issues, Benazir Ahmed came on Facebook live on April 20 and highlighted his position.
He claims that most of the allegations leveled against him and his family are ‘false’.
The former police chief also promised to write the property in the name of that person or organization with a smile if anyone can establish the information as ‘false’.
Meanwhile, lawyer Salah Uddin Regan filed a writ petition in the High Court on Monday seeking directions to investigate the assets of Benazir Ahmed.
ACC chairman, secretary and four related persons and Benazir Ahmed were made defendants there.
The report published in the newspaper highlighted the huge wealth of Benazir Ahmed.
It is said that Benazir’s huge wealth includes an elite and beautiful tourist center called Savannah Eco Resort in Sahapur Union of Gopalganj. Also, at least six companies in different parts of the country were found in the name of his wife and two daughters. The amount of investment in five institutions may exceed Rs 500 crore.
According to the report, Benazir Ahmed has expensive flats, houses and bigha after bigha of land near Dhaka in the elite areas of Dhaka. Best Holdings and five-star hotel La Meridien have 200,000 shares in the name of the two daughters. In Purbachal, there is a duplex house spread over 40 kathas with an estimated value of at least Tk 45 crores. There is another 10 bighas of land worth 22 crores in the same area. However, in the last 34 years and seven months of long service life, Benazir Ahmed’s salary and allowances are supposed to be 1 crore 84 lakh 89 thousand 200 taka.
