AL unaware if ex-IGP Benazir leaves country: Quader

Ruling Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader said on Friday that AL had no information whether former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed had left the country after withdrawing money from the banks.

He came up with the remarks while answering questions from journalists at a press conference at the AL president’s political office in Dhanmondi.

Regarding the arrest of former IGP Benazir, Quader said that ‘there is a process and investigation going  on by the Anti-Corruption Commission; if the ACC files a case, action will be taken as per law.’

‘After filing of the case, the court will decide whether he [Benazir] will be sent to jail or not, but there is nothing to do from the government side,’ he said.

On April 18, the ACC decided to carry out an inquiry against Benazir Ahmed, who was at the top posts of police in the last three consecutive terms of the AL government, for allegedly accumulating illegal wealth after newspapers ran reports in this regard.

Now media reports claimed that Benazir along with his family members secretly left country about a month ago.

Criticising former BNP reigns, Quader at the press conference also said that ‘Hawa Bhaban’ was a centre of corruption and looting during the BNP tenures. And now they were talking about corruption.

‘Was anyone punished for committing corruption during the BNP period?’ asked Quader, adding that that AL government was taking action against the corrupt ones, and that investigations were on into corruption allegations.

But previously, the BNP government had established a culture of impunity in the country, he added.

‘I am a minister; if I commit corruption, will I end up with impunity? Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has all the information about who is doing what. She has already taken some measures at the PM office,’ Quader said.