Home
+
The resort has been attached following a court order over graft allegations against the former police chief
Published : 09 Jun 2024, 12:21 AM
The Anti-Corruption Commission prosecuted several people on charges of trying to steal around 600kg of fish from Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park’s pond in Gopalganj.
The property, owned by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed and his family, has been attached by the government following a court order after allegations of corruption against Benazir surfaced.
Md Sohrab Hossain, an assistant director of the ACC’s Gopalganj office, filed the case against Shafiqul Islam, hatchery officer of the resort, and several other unidentified suspects on Friday night.
ACC spokesman Md Aktarul Islam said the ACC officials visited the resort on Friday, acting on a tip-off that fish and other things were being stolen from the resort.
The officials interviewed fishermen, local union council Chairman Binoy Sarker and resort employees to confirm that the fish were being stolen.
Around 555kg of tilapia and 37kg of katla fish were seized and sold at an auction at Tk 83,754.
According to the documents of the case filed at Gopalganj Sadar Police Station, fishermen were seen fishing during the visit, but Shafiqul and other officials of the resort fled.
On Friday, the Gopalganj district administration also took over the resort following the court order.
The districtc’s Deputy Commissioner Kazi Mahbubul Alam said that, from now on, everything including the maintenance of the resort will be controlled by the district administration.
The ACC has been investigating the assets of the former inspector general of police and his family following media reports that he had accumulated wealth beyond means.
The High Court has also ordered seizure of their properties and freezing of their bank accounts.
But media reports suggest the former police chief had withdrawn most of the funds from his accounts and left the country before the court passed the order.
Benazir last week sought time from the ACC to appear before it for his statement.
The daily Kaler Kantho, owned by Bashundhara Group, reported that Benazir's family had built an eco-resort on around 354 hectares of land in Gopalganj with dirty money.
It also alleged that the former IGP owns multiple flats and houses in Dhaka and Purbachal.
The newspaper accused his family of encroaching on forest land to construct a resort in Gazipur.
Benazir did his master’s in English from Dhaka University. He also has a PhD in business administration from the university’s Faculty of Business Studies.
He joined the police force in 1988 and retired as IGP in September 2022. He had also worked as the director general of the Rapid Action Battalion. He had worked in the UN peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo as well.
In a video message on Facebook, Benazir refuted the allegations reported by the national daily and a TV station.
