The Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday filed a case against five people, including former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, on the charges of forgery in obtaining passports.
Commission deputy director Hafizul Islam filed the case with its integrated district office in Dhaka-1 against Benazir and four employees of the Department of Immigration and Passports, said commission director general Md Aktar Hossain while briefing journalists.
The four other accused are former director of the Divisional Passport & Visa Office at Agargaon in Dhaka Mohammad Fazlul Haque; former director Munshi Muyeed Ekram; director Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun; and technical manager of the e-passport and automated border control project Sahena Haque.
Md Aktar Hossain also said that despite being a public servant, former police chief Benazir’s profession was falsely listed as ‘private service’ and fraud and forgery were committed.
According to the case statement, Benazir Ahmed, while serving as the deputy inspector general of Police Headquarters, additional inspector general of police, director general of the Rapid Action Battalion, and commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, obtained an ordinary passport through false information.
He concealed information about his profession as public servant and mentioned his profession as a private service employee on multiple occasions and applied for machine-readable passports and e-passports without a no-objection certificate from his office, said the case statement.
The other accused, fully aware of Benazir’s official identity, willingly engaged in criminal misconduct without verifying or obtaining the necessary NOC in the matter of issuing the passports.
They granted final approval for the issuance of an ordinary passport and e-passport in Benazir’s name, committing offences violating the Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973, said the case statement.
In June, the anti-corruption commission started an inquiry against Benazir over allegations of obtaining an ordinary passport despite being a public servant.
The commission is also conducting another inquiry against Benazir and his family members over corruption allegations.
On April 18, the ACC, based on a media report, decided to investigate allegations of amassing illegal wealth and money laundering.
During the inquiry, it found 697 bigha of land, 12 flats in Dhaka, and shares in 21 companies in the names of Benazir and his family. It also found Tk 30 lakh investment in savings certificates, 33 bank accounts, and three BO (Beneficiary Owner’s) accounts.
Benazir and his family, who left country in May and are now staying aboard, also eschewed ACC summons to appear before it.
New Age