The Dhaka Metropolitan Court has ordered the confiscation of assets written in 113 documents belong to former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed and his wife and children, as well as croc four flat in Gulshan and shares in various companies.
Senior Special Judge of Metropolitan Court Mohammad Assam Jaglul Hossain gave this order on Sunday.
ACC Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir told the media that on last Thursday, the court ordered the seizing of 83 documents belonging to former IGP Benazir Ahmed. Later more of his assets were discovered. The ACC applied to the court on Sunday seeking an order to freeze those assets. After the hearing, the court ordered to freeze Benazir Ahmed's assets.
Before this last Thursday, 345 bighas (114 acres) of land in the name of Benazir Ahmed, his wife and children were ordered to be croc, along with freezing of bank accounts in their names in various public and private banks.
The ACC has started implementing court orders regarding confiscation and freezing of properties and bank accounts.
Talking to reporters, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan on Saturday said that the anti-corruption watchdog has started implementing the court’s order to seize assets of Benazir Ahmed, his wife and children on Thursday as part of the investigation.
The ACC has received a copy of the court order and will send to the concerned government agencies and bank authorities, he added.
Mentionable, several newspapers, including the Kaler Kantho and the Daily Sun, in early April published a series of reports detailing the wealth and properties allegedly acquired through illegal means by Benazir Ahmed and his family members which sparked a widespread discussion throughout the country.
Supreme Court lawyer Syed Sayedul Haque Suman approached the ACC seeking an investigation into allegations against former IGP Benazir Ahmed of amassing huge illegal wealth by abusing power.
Later, the High Court asked the ACC to submit a progress report on the investigation into the alleged illegal wealth of the former IGP and his family within two months.
The ACC formed a committee to investigate corruption allegations against Benazir and his family members.
According to newspaper reports, the former IGP built Savanna Eco-Resort and five other companies in Bairagitol village of Gopalganj with an investment of over Tk500 crore.
Benazir’s wife Zeeshan Mirza serves as the designated chairperson, while his elder daughter Farheen Rishta Binte Benazir holds the position of managing director and his younger daughter Tahseen Raisa Binte Benazir is a director of Savanna Eco-Resort.
In Purbachal, he built a duplex villa spread over 40 kathas of land with an estimated value of at least Tk45 crore and owns another 10 bighas of land worth Tk22 crore.
The former police boss has been implicated in an incident involving the acquisition of forest department land to obtain 25% equity shares in a luxury resort in Gazipur owned by a prominent industrial conglomerate.
Benazir invested undisclosed earnings in ventures, including Padma Bank, the Canadian University of Bangladesh, Best Western Premier and Hotel Ramada in Cox's Bazar, Concorde Hotel and Suites in Dubai, and gold business in Singapore.
The huge property seems irrational in proportion to his official earnings of Tk1.85 crore during the service spanning 34 years and seven months before retiring as the 30th IGP of the country.
