The government has taken control of Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park in Gopalganj owned by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed and his family.
A delegation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and officials from various departments at the district and upazila levels, led by Gopalganj Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kazi Mahbubul Alam, visited the park on Monday.
During the visit, Deputy Director Md Moshiur Rahman of ACC's Gopalganj Office said the receivers of former IGP's park in Gopalganj had taken over at 11am on Monday.
The delegation entered the park in the afternoon and visited various structures.
Who is overseeing Benazir's seized properties?
ACC sets new date to grill Benazir's wife, childrenAdditional Deputy Commissioner (ADC-Revenue) Farhana Jahan Upoma, ACC Gopalganj Deputy Director Md Moshiur Rahman, Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohsin Uddin, and officials of Agriculture and Fisheries Department were present.
Other officials of the district administration were present.
Gopalganj and Madaripur district administrations took control of the park last Saturday morning.
From now on, all the activities of the park will continue under the supervision of two district administrations as per the court's directive.
After the visit, Gopalganj DC said that the park is closed for now, but the park will be opened soon with the court's instructions.
According to the ACC, Benazir Ahmed built the Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park on 621 bighas of land in Bairagitol upazila in Sadar upazila while he was the director general of Rapid Action Battalion from 2015 to 2020 and inspector general of police from 2020 to 2022.
Locals claimed members of Hindu community owned the lands and they were forced, threatened and tricked into selling their lands, A significant portion of the lands were even grabbed. The ACC, however, opened a probe following the media reports on Benazir’s wealth. Later, the court ordered to seize Benazir’s and his family’s properties including Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park.
