Gopalganj administration takes over resort of former IGP Benazir

The Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park were seized by the local government after a court order

Sixteen days after the court gave its order, the Gopalganj district administration has taken control of 'Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park' owned by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed and his family.

Babli Shabnam, assistant commissioner (land) of the Gopalganj District Administration said that a receiver has been appointed there on the orders of the court.

He said that all the activities of the park are going on as per the instructions of the deputy commissioner as of Saturday morning.

Gopalganj Deputy Commissioner Kazi Mahbubul Alam said that, from now on, everything including the maintenance of the resort will be controlled by the district administration.

On Friday evening, two teams of the Gopalganj district administration and the Anti-Corruption Commission of Madaripur and Gopalganj stationed themselves in front of the resort. Later they entered it and took control.

The decision was announced around 11:30pm in front of the park’s main gate.

Several senior officials in the district administration were present.

The Daily Kaler Kantha, a newspaper owned by Bashundhara Group, published two reports - 'Aladdin's lamp in Benazir's house' on Mar 31 and 'Benazir's forest resort' on Apr 3. Allegations of acquiring illegal wealth were then raised against the former IGP.

According to the report, Benazir's family built an eco-resort on about 187 hectares of land in Gopalganj. In addition, the former IGP has several flats and houses in Dhaka and Purbachal.

The report by the daily newspaper has also brought accusations of encroaching forest land and building a resort in Gazipur. The newspaper claims that Benazir's family owns a quarter of the resort.

Amid widespread talk on the issue, Habiganj-4 MP Syed Sayedul Haque asked the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the illegal assets of Benazir and his family members and take the necessary legal measures.

Then, on Apr 18, the ACC decided to investigate the complaint and a three-member committee was formed.

Although he did not speak to the media, Benazir took to Facebook Live on Apr 20 to present his side of the story.

He claimed that most of the allegations levelled against him and his family were 'false'.

The former police chief vowed to gladly hand over his property to whichever person or organisation could prove that the ‘false’ claims about his property were true.

Meanwhile, lawyer Salah Uddin Regan filed a writ petition in the High Court on Monday seeking instructions to investigate Benazir’s assets.

The petition named the ACC chairman, secretary, four related persons and Benazir Ahmed were named as respondents.

In addition to the massive assets and the expensive resort, the newspaper report found that at least six companies in different parts of the country were found under the names of his wife and two daughters. The amount of investment in the five institutions may exceed Tk 5 billion.

According to the report, Benazir Ahmed has expensive flats, houses and acres of land near and in the elite areas of Dhaka. His two daughters have 200,000 shares in Best Holdings and the Le Meridien hotel.

The report says he also has a duplex house on a property spread over 15 hectares of land with an estimated price of at least Tk 450 million. He also owns 3.33 acres of land worth Tk 220 million in the area.

In the 34 years and seven months of Benazir’s service, his salary and allowances are supposed to total around Tk 18.5 million.