Former chief of the Bangladesh Army, general Aziz Ahmed, allegedly influenced the Election Commission to change the address on a fake National Identity Card issued for his brother Tofail Ahmed, also known as Joseph, under the name Tanvir Ahmed Tanzil.
Confirming the matter, several officials of the NID wing of the EC said that when Aziz was the chief of the army, in an application, he recommended the commission change the address of his brother, who got the president’s pardon earlier.
While registering as a voter with the name Tanzil, Tofail showed a holding number of Tejkunipara in the capital as his address, EC officials said, adding that he filed a written application in 2019 to change the address.
In the application, he mentioned a house in Dhaka cantonment as his new address, claiming it was his own residence where he had been living for five years.
Later, his address was changed, EC officials said.
Tofail’s application for a change of address had the reference in English as ‘General Aziz Ahmed, CAS, AHQ’, they said, referring to the identity of the chief of army staff.
They said that, due to the army chief’s recommendation, the application was approved immediately.
According to officials, Aziz Ahmed’s two brothers, Harish Ahmed and Tofail Ahmed, collected NID by changing their names as well as their parents’ names.
Tofail took two NIDs, one under Tanvir Ahmed Tanzil and another under his real name.
Harish Ahmed took NID under the name of Mohammad Hasan.
Election commissioner Ahsan Habib Khan told New Age that the commission had already launched a probe in this regard and that necessary legal action would be taken following the recommendations of the probe body.
On May 29, Supreme Court lawyer Salahuddin Reagan submitted an application to the Anti-Corruption Commission seeking an inquiry into the corruption allegations against former army chief General Aziz Ahmed.
Reagan submitted media reports and a copy of the sanctions imposed by the United States on Aziz, along with the application, to the ACC chairman.
According to the lawyer’s application, the United States sanctions against Aziz on corruption charges and the reports published in national daily newspapers have damaged the image of the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh in the national and international arenas.
This has damaged the reputation of the Bangladesh Army worldwide, while the reputation of the Bangladesh Army has also been tarnished in the UN peacekeeping mission, and the trust and confidence of the people of the country in the army have been destroyed, it said.
Regan also said that it was very unfortunate that the ACC had not taken any initiative to investigate, even after such a big complaint came up against the former army chief.
The ACC has yet to start any probe into the graft allegations against Aziz Ahmed.
An investigation, however, has been initiated into the alleged passport and NID card forgery against the former army chief’s siblings, Haris Ahmed and Tofael Ahmed.
The ACC sent letters to the Election Commission and the Department of Immigration and Passports to investigate the allegations.
When approached, Aziz refused to make any comment on the allegations.
New Age
