The election commission cancelled four National Identity cards, belonging to Haris Ahmed and Tofail Ahmed, also known as Joseph, two brothers of former army chief general Aziz Ahmed.
Shariful Islam, public relations officer of the commission, confirmed the matter on Tuesday saying that Aziz’s two brothers would no longer be able to access any NID-related services in the country.
Recent media reports suggested that Haris used the alias Mohammad Hasan to obtain an NID card, falsely listing Suleman Sarkar and Rahela Begum as his parents.
Additionally, he changed his photo on his NID card in 2019, with the recommendation for the change coming from his brother Aziz Ahmed when he was the army chief.
Tofael Ahmed, alias Joseph, possessed two NID cards—one under his actual name with parents listed as Abdul Wadud and Renuja Begum, and another under the name Tanvir Ahmed Tanjeel, with different parent names.
This development came after the United States had imposed sanctions on Aziz Ahmed and his immediate family members on May 21, citing his alleged involvement in serious corruption.
Aziz served as the chief of army staff from June 2018 to June 2021 and also led the Border Guard Bangladesh from 2012 to 2016.
Aziz, the eldest among five brothers, had siblings who made headlines for grave criminal activities of murder, extortion and illegal possession of firearms during the 1990s and 2000s.
Joseph, in particular, was implicated in ten cases related to extortion and illegal firearms possession.
In 2004, Joseph was sentenced to death, while Haris and another brother, Anis, received life imprisonment in a murder case.
The spotlight intensified on Aziz Ahmed when Joseph was granted clemency in the murder case in 2018, followed by similar actions for Haris and Anis in 2019.
An Al-Jazeera documentary ‘All the prime minister’s men,’ aired on February 1, 2021, alleged that Aziz misused his influence to secure contracts for his convicted brothers.
Both the army headquarters and foreign ministry, however, dismissed these allegations as false and defamatory.
The Anti-Corruption Commission recently started an inquiry against the former army chief Aziz Ahmed over allegations of amassing illegal wealth through corruption.
