ACC sues ex-IGP Benazir for passport forgery
Besides Benazir, four passport department officials have been accused in the case
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former IGP Benazir Ahmed for concealing his identity while renewing his passport, and getting a new passport through fraud and forgery, bypassing the required no objection certificate (NOC).
The case was filed today by Hafizul Islam, deputy director of ACC's Integrated District Office in Dhaka-1. The anti-graft watchdog's Director General (prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain confirmed the matter to The Business Standard.
Besides Benazir, four passport department officials have been accused in the case.
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The accused are Fazlul Haque and Munshi Muyeed Ekram, former directors of different divisional passport and visa offices; Sahena Haq, e-Passport and Automated Border Control Project technical manager; and Abdullah Al Mamun, current divisional director.
As per the case statement, on 11 October 2010, while serving as DIG of police, Benazir Ahmed submitted a handwritten passport and applied for an official machine-readable passport (MRP) without securing the required departmental NOC.
Benazir's application form was marked as "official" but he, despite being a government employee, falsely listed his profession as "private service", committing fraud and forgery, the case document stated.
Benazir continued this practice even while serving as the director general of the Rapid Action Battalion, falsely listing his profession as "private service" in the passport application.
He has also applied for an MRP and an e-passport (electronic passport) on separate occasions without providing the necessary departmental clearance.
The case statement further mentioned that the four passport department officials were fully aware of Benazir's true identity but still facilitated the forgery and fraud, approving the issuance of both an ordinary passport and an official e-passport without proper verification.
The charges against the accused have been brought under several sections of the Penal Code, the Anti-Corruption Act of 1947, and the Bangladesh Passport Order of 1973.
This case follows a recent ACC asset declaration notice served to Benazir and his family.
