Benazir Ahmed accused of acquiring assets worth several thousand crores

Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed is accused of amassing movable and immovable assets worth several thousand crores of taka through abuse of power, bribery and corruption during his service. 

This scenario revealed from the investigation of six cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The ACC said that Benazir has also laundered assets worth crores of taka abroad. On Sunday, he was arrested by the police in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the ACC case.

ACC sources said that on December 15, 2024, the ACC filed five cases against Benazir, his wife Zeesan Mirza, daughter Farhin Rishta Benazir and Tahsin Raisa Binte Benazir on charges of amassing assets worth Tk74.13 crore. They are also accused of concealing information about their assets.

Another case was filed against Benazir on December 15, 2024, on charges of acquiring known undeclared assets worth Tk 9.44 crore. The charge sheet in this case was submitted to the court on November 30 last year. The amount of assets in the charge sheet has been increased to Tk 11 crore. 

In this case, the ACC had applied to the court to arrest him abroad and bring him back to the country.

Passport fraud case against former IGP Benazir Ahmed

The ACC filed a case on October 14, 2024 against former IG of Police Benazir Ahmed and five others on charges of criminal misconduct and fraud, obtaining ordinary passports from important government positions under the guise of private sector employees. 

Benazir Ahmed, while working as the Police Commissioner and Director General of RAB in Dhaka, had mentioned the government employee 'private service' in the 'profession' section of his passport application through the DIG of Police. 

Despite being a government employee, he had applied for a Machine Readable Passport (MRP)/e-Passport (electronic passport) without a departmental No Objection Certificate (NOC) at various times, citing private service, using forgery and falsehood.

Market value of assets acquired by Benazir Ahmed

Benazir Ahmed acquired all types of immovable assets at the mouza price, i.e. government price, during his service. He became the owner of many lands by force by intimidating local people. 

Benazir and his family members have been accused of acquiring illegal assets worth Tk 85.13 crore in six ACC cases. The current market value of these assets is several thousand crores.

Among these, a huge resort has been built on 600 acres of land in Tuthamandra Mouza of Gopalganj Sadar. Its current market value is estimated at one thousand crores. This resort has a total of 28 ponds, including one pond, on 20 acres of land. There are a total of 12 cottages, including four duplexes, a swimming pool, a children's park, and a garden of local and foreign fruits. The resort was built in 2016. 

The resort was attached by a court order. Currently, the Deputy Director of the Gopalganj Department of Agricultural Extension and the District Fisheries Officer are serving as the receiver of this resort. 

Benazir has two luxurious bungalows in Narayanganj.

Benazir's four flats in Rangicon Tower, an elite area of the capital, Gulshan, are under the custody of the ACC. 

The duplexes, each measuring 4,595 square feet, totalling 9,190 square feet, have five bedrooms on two floors. The distance from one room to another is 25-30 square feet. The building, named Rancon Tower, has been built on 19 kathas and 12 chhataks of land.

The price of each flat is Tk four to five crore. In that case, Benazir Ahmed used his influence to purchase the flats for a little over half a crore taka. 

Two bedrooms, a kitchen room, a dining room and her own office room have been built on the 13th floor of the building. Three bedrooms are on the 14th floor, the rest of the space has been left open. The rooms are furnished with expensive beds and wooden wall cabinets.