The Anti-Corruption Commission is likely to make a decision on media reports about former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed and his family members amassing huge wealth beyond known sources of income.

Experts say that the commission should launch an investigation into the legality of the assets reportedly amassed by Benazir and the family.

When asked whether there an inquiry into Benazir’s wealth would be launched, commission chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah said, ‘The matter has come to our attention and the commission will take a decision in this regard in its next meeting.’

He, however, said that the next meeting of the commission was yet to be scheduled.

Bangla daily Kaler Kantho has recently published a series report on various alleged misdeeds and corruption of Benazir Ahmed, who also served as the director general of the Rapid Action Battalion from January 2015 to April 2020.

The reports, which have recently gone viral on social media, mentioned his lavish lifestyle and holdings of shares in different companies.

Refusing the allegations, Benazir Ahmed on Sunday said that the media reports against him were guided.

‘The reports are full of untrue, false and fabricated stories,’ he said responding to a New Age query.

According to the reports, his ‘unusual assets’ did not match with the legal sources of income of the former IGP, who received from the government ‘Shuddhachar Purashkar’—an award given based on 10 criteria, including honesty and morality and proper financial management.

Of the assets, ‘Savannah Eco Resort’ in Sahapur union in Gopalganj is one which Benazir has built spending a fortune and which has his wife Zeeshan Mirza as the chairman, their elder daughter Farhin Rista binte Benazir as managing director and younger daughter Tahsin Raisa binte Benazir as the director.

The media reports also claimed that the ownership of Benazir family members has been traced at least to six companies, which have an investment of over Tk 500 crore.

Five of these companies founded by Benazir are Savannah Farm Products, Savannah Agro Limited, Savannah Natural Park, Savannah Eco Resort, and Savannah Country Club, all in Gopalganj district, according to the reports.

The media reports have also brought allegation of encroaching forest land and building a resort in Gazipur, where Benazir’s family owns a quarter of the resort.

Benazir owns expensive flats and houses in upscale areas in the capital, while his two daughters own 2,00,000 shares in Best Holdings and five-star Le Méridien Dhaka hotel.

The former police chief also owns a duplex house on 40 katha of land valued at an estimated Tk 45 crore and another 10 bigha of land worth Tk 22 crore, both in Purbachal in Dhaka.

Benazir also owns 418 decimals of land in the Saint Martin’s Island, declared an ecologically critical area, in Cox’s Bazar, said the media reports.

According to the reports, Benazir earned Tk 1.84 crore in salary and allowances in his service period of 34 years and seven months.

In a post on his verified Facebook profile, Benazir on April 2 wrote, ‘Some people are very angry—they are already writing editorials and op-ed pieces based on their excitement. Please have some patience. The announcement already says, “The story of slander is not yet finished”.’

Born in Gopalganj, Benazir did his post-graduation from the Department of English at Dhaka University.

Joining the police force as assistant superintendent of police in February 1988, Benazir received international training in counter-terrorism. He also served in Bosnia and Kosovo as a member of the UN peacekeeping force.

Benazir served as the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner before taking over as the RAB director general on January 7, 2015. After leading the elite force for almost four and a half years, he took over as the IGP on April 15, 2020.

On December 10, 2021, the United States declared former RAB director general Benazir Ahmed along with five other serving and former officials of Bangladesh ineligible for entry to the country as part of its slapping sanctions on officials and entities of eight countries for human rights abuse.

‘The US Department of State has announced visa restrictions on Benazir due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights, making him ineligible for entry into the United States,’ said the US Department of Treasury.

It also said that RAB and other law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh were responsible for more than 600 disappearances since 2009 and nearly 600 extrajudicial killings and instances of torture since 2018.