The Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court on Sunday ordered the authorities concerned to appoint a first-class magistrate to enter four confiscated flats owned by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, and his family members who are facing allegations of amassing illegal wealth.
Judge Mohammed Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain passed the order accepting a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission director [Property Management Unit] Md Monjur Morshed, said ACC public prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir.
ACC told the court that the same court appointed ACC鈥檚 Property Management Unit as the receiver to look after four flats at Rancon Icon Tower in Dhaka聽 city鈥檚 Gulshan area owned by Benazir and his family members who are facing graft allegations.
Following the court order, Monjur, along with some ACC officials, went to visit the flats on June 13 and talked to the building鈥檚 receptionist, Meherab Hossain.
The receptionist, however, informed them that the flats鈥� owners did not live there, and he did not know about their whereabouts.
The ACC found four flats measuring a total of 9000 square feet on the 13th and 14th floors of the Rancon Icon Tower, but they saw that the owners (Banazir鈥檚 family) took the flats鈥� keys with them.
Md Jasim, the manager of the building, was not found there, said the ACC.
There is a matter of utility charges, especially service charges, which are supposed to be paid every month, the ACC said, adding that the four flats will be rented to meet the operational costs.
They said that the flats needed to be accessible for assessment and to compile an inventory of contents inside the flats and measure the spaces of the flats by the public works department to fix rents of the flats.
ACC officials also said that they would rent the flats to meet the utility charges and that鈥檚 why they they needed to enter the flats immediately.
On June 27, ACC鈥檚 property management unit was appointed as receiver to look after the four flats of Benazir and his family in the capital鈥檚 Gulshan.
Benazir Ahmed, his wife Jissan Mirza, and their daughters reportedly left the country on May 4 amid allegations of amassing illegal wealth.
Although ACC summoned Benazir and his family members to know their statement about the graft allegations, they did not appear before the ACC, rather they sent letters to the ACC describing their positions regarding the allegations.
Earlier, in three phases, a Dhaka court ordered the seizure of a total of 697 bigha of land in Gopalganj, Madaripur, Cox鈥檚 Bazar, Bandarban, and Narayanganj districts, 12 flats in Dhaka, and shares in 21 companies in the name of Benazir and his family.
The court also ordered the freezing of a Tk 30 lakh investment in savings certificates, 33 bank accounts, and three BO (Beneficiary Owner鈥檚) accounts.
The ACC, based on a media report, decided on April 18 to investigate allegations of amassing illegal wealth by Benazir and his family.