The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former inspector general of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed and four other individuals on charge of allegedly of obtaining passport through forgery.
Hafizul Islam, a deputy director of the anti-graft watchdog, filed the case with ACC’s Dhaka district office on Monday, under section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and section 11 of the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973.
ACC Deputy Director and Public Relations Officer Akhtarul Islam has acknowledged the matter.
Other accused in the case are -- former Director of the Dhaka Division Passport Office, Mohammad Fazlul Haque; former Director Munshi Muyeed Ikram; current Director Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun; and Technical Manager of the e-Passport and Automated Border Control Project, Sahena Haque.
According to the ACC, Benazir Ahmed applied for machine readable passports (MRP) and e-passports without obtaining the required no objection certificate (NOC) from the police department. He reportedly declared his profession as ‘private service’ on the applications.
The accused officials, who knew the true identity and official status Benazir Ahmed, facilitated the process by approving both an ordinary passport and an official e-passport without proper verification.
