Testimony of 34 witnesses completed in Benazir Ahmed corruption case, next hearing on November 5

Most of the testimony against former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed in the illegal wealth case has now been completed. Another 12 people testified on Wednesday (October 28), taking the total to 34 out of 36 witnesses in the case.

The 12 gave their depositions before Judge Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka's Special Judge Court-5 on Wednesday. Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Mir Ahmed Ali Salam confirmed the testimony.

As the accused is absconding, the witnesses could not be cross-examined on his behalf, according to the report. After the depositions, the court fixed November 5 for the next testimony.

Those who testified on Wednesday included Mohammad Shahriar Chowdhury, FAVP at Community Bank's head office, Saidur Rahman, executive vice president of United Commercial Bank, and Mohammad Abdur Rahman, SEVP and head of ICD at Prime Bank.

The list also included Uday Sankar Chaki, SADP of NRB Bank's anti-money laundering and terror financing prevention department, Standard Bank official Md Faisal Bhuiyan Pias, and ACC office assistant Md Rafiqul Islam.

Executive engineers of the Public Works Department Mohammad Faisal Kabir, Mohammad Tarikul Alam, staff officer and executive engineer of the PWD E/M division, Md Majedul Islam, executive engineer of the same division, and Nahid Hasan Lijon, sub-engineer of the E/M sub-division, also testified on Wednesday.

Retired Captain Mehedi Hasan Tushar, former joint secretary of the Dhaka Board Club, and SPBN DIG Dr Shoaib Riaz Alam were also among the day's witnesses.

In the course of the case, the same court took the charge sheet into cognisance on March 8 and issued an arrest warrant against Benazir Ahmed. On May 3, charges were framed against him and the trial was ordered to begin.

ACC Deputy Director Hafizul Islam filed the case as plaintiff on December 15, 2024. After investigation, a charge sheet was submitted on November 30 last year accusing him of acquiring wealth beyond known income, concealing wealth information and money laundering.

According to the charge sheet, Benazir Ahmed declared immovable assets worth Tk 6 crore 45 lakh 37 thousand 365 and movable assets worth Tk 5 crore 74 lakh 89 thousand 966 in his wealth statement. The investigation found evidence of immovable assets worth Tk 7 crore 52 lakh 68 thousand 987 and movable assets worth Tk 8 crore 15 lakh 31 thousand 264 in his name.

In total, the charge sheet cites evidence of assets worth Tk 15 crore 68 lakh. It says his lawful income source was found to be Tk 6 crore 59 lakh 42 thousand 668, and after expenses his net savings stood at Tk 4 crore 63 lakh 56 thousand 675.

On that calculation, the ACC alleges Benazir Ahmed acquired Tk 11 crore 4 lakh 43 thousand 576 in wealth beyond his known income. According to the ACC, he concealed the source, nature and ownership of the money and invested, transferred and converted it through various bank accounts, businesses and joint-capital companies.