A core ‘team’ of eight to ten trusted subordinate police officers worked to extract hundreds of crores of money for Benazir Ahmed when he helmed the Bangladesh Police and the dreaded Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), inquiries by Northeast News have revealed.
Details of Ahmed’s corruption and the extent of the “rot” within the police force have begun to surface after he reportedly disappeared from Dhaka on or after May 4.
He was scheduled to appear before the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on June 6, but his lawyers pleaded a deferment without giving specific reasons of his inability to face officials of the anti-graft watchdog.
What caused consternation in official circles were reports earlier this month that indicated that Ahmed, who is an American Magnetsky sanctions-slapped police officer, had “fled” to a foreign country – in all likelihood Dubai, via Singapore – with clandestine support from the ruling Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
What also surprised senior government functionaries is that while details of immoveable properties surfaced a few days ago, there was no mention of the hundreds of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances of Hasina’s political opponents that took place during Ahmed’s tenure as RAB and Bangladesh Police chiefs.
However, Ahmed’s alleged corrupt practices were furthered by a select group of eight to ten senior officers who served under him in different capacities. One of the most notorious is Masrud Rahman of the 20th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service. Rahman, who is also known as Mollah Masud alias Media Masud, now serves as Additional DIG at the Sarada Police Academy.
Rahman was a close confidant of Ahmed when the latter was Assistant and Deputy Commissioner. When Ahmed was appointed Bangladesh IGP, the topmost post in the police hierarchy, Masud was moved as AIG (Administration) at the Bangladesh Police headquarter.
Masud was soon promoted as Additional DIG (Headquarter) which, government sources said, helped him to “raise” illegal gratification whose lion’s share was cornered by Ahmed.
Bribes would be paid to Masud for every posting and transfer, officials said, adding that he maintained a bank note counting machine and two vaults at his official residence in Dhaka. He also led a group of police officers who allegedly threw around their weight to effect land grabs at prime locations across Dhaka.
The other officers who have come under the ACC’s scanner include former Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police B M Masood, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Masood Alam, Additional IG Lutfur Kabir (15th BCS batch), Khulna SP S M Shafiullah (24th BCS batch), Mahbub Hassan (SP, Khulna; 24th BCS batch), Mohiuddin Farooqi (22nd BCS batch and former RAB officer), Alamgir Kabir (Additional Deputy IG), Additional DIG Ayesha Siddiqua (24th BCS batch) and Ariful Haque (Additional IG; 24th BCS batch).
While Bangladesh government sources said that the ACC “might consider taking a closer look at these officers for their alleged corrupt practices, at an appropriate time”, the focus “will remain on Benazir Ahmed”.
However, other government and political sources said “there is no knowing whether the former IGP will at all reappear or not”.
Soon after reports appeared on Bangladeshi media about Ahmed’s ‘disappearance’, unconfirmed reports indicated that he might have fled the country.
Several places, including Singapore, Malaysia and Turkey, were suspected as Ahmed’s destination. But some sources suspect that linking Ahmed to these locations was mere “speculation” considering his “high-value”, especially when he continues to under American sanctions.
