Dubai Holds Ex-Bangladesh Police Chief Sought for Graft

Dhaka's interior minister says the UAE has jailed its former top cop Benazir Ahmed and Bangladesh has already forwarded extradition papers.

Dubai Holds Ex-Bangladesh Police Chief Sought for Graft

The interior minister of Bangladesh announced on Saturday that the United Arab Emirates has placed the country's former police chief behind bars, and Dhaka is pressing for his swift handover.

Salahuddin Ahmed told the press that Benazir Ahmed, who once headed Bangladesh's national force, was seized by law-enforcement officers in the Gulf emirate on June 12 following an Interpol alert requested by Dhaka. The minister made the comments after a function at his ministry meant to recognize outstanding officers.

According to Salahuddin, the UAE's federal police notified Bangladesh's Interpol bureau on the same day the detention occurred. "I informed the legislature immediately. Their communication gave us a one-month window to supply the paperwork needed for transfer," he stated.

Rather than use the full period, Bangladeshi authorities compiled and delivered the dossier within twenty-four hours. Officers labored until evening to assemble a file spanning 144 pages, containing court orders and case summaries. The minister endorsed the bundle that same night. Translators converted everything into Arabic before foreign ministry staff relayed it to Abu Dhabi and briefed the Emirati mission in Dhaka.

"We are confident the UAE will observe the correct judicial route and expedite his repatriation," Salahuddin remarked. "Our side will remain engaged."

No answer from the Gulf nation had yet reached Bangladesh's central bureau, the minister acknowledged. He attributed the silence partly to the Friday-Saturday weekend customary in the region and said formal inquiries would resume on Sunday.

Both countries have signed pertinent United Nations protocols and share a mutual legal assistance treaty, providing the framework for the transfer, Salahuddin noted.

The ex-chief departed Bangladesh on May 4 last year with family members. He faces several prosecutions back home, half a dozen of them for corruption.

Source: New Age Bangladesh

Source: Google News AE