The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday submitted a report before the High Court stating that it has found abnormal and suspicious transactions in various bank accounts of former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed and his family members.
The Commission submitted the report before the HC bench comprising Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ibadat Hossain as per its earlier directive.
Later, ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told reporters that progress reports on Benazir Ahmed's corruption have been submitted before the High Court bench as per its earlier order.
The HC bench is likely to hold hearing on the matter very soon, he added.
"In the report, the Commission has found the evidence of Benazir Ahmed's of withdrawing money before leaving the country. There have been suspicious transactions in his account, and now the Commission's investigators are examining these details," the ACC lawyer said.
Alam added, "The matter of unusual transactions is being investigated by an ACC team. Apart from that, whether there is anything else outside the country is also being investigated."
On March 31, a national daily published a report containing various allegations ranging from irregularities to corruption and abuse of power by former IGP Benazir Ahmed. It prompted Supreme Court lawyer Salah Uddin Rigan to challenge the ACC's inactivity in investigating these allegations by filing a writ petition in the High Court.
After preliminary hearings on this writ, the High Court directed on April 23 that a progress report on the investigation into the allegations of irregularities, corruption, illegal assets, and abuse of power against former IGP Dr Benazir Ahmed be submitted within two months. Accordingly, the ACC submitted the report on Sunday.
Meanwhile, on April 22, the ACC formed a committee to investigate the allegations of Benazir's corruption. Sensing the situation, the former IGP began withdrawing money on April 23. By April 30, Benazir, along with his wife Jisan Mirza and daughter Farhin Rista, had withdrawn nearly Tk 130 million from several accounts.
Benazir, his wife, and their three daughters left Dhaka on a Singapore Airlines flight on the night of May 4.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan stated that the withdrawal of money and the active efforts to remove funds after the investigation started indicate Benazir's 'criminal mindset,' a concept in criminal law that establishes intent behind a crime.
