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Biography of Benazir Ahmed
Former IGP of Bangladesh Police
(1 October 1963 – Present)
Benazir Ahmed is the former IGP and retired Bangladeshi Police Officer who served the nation for 34 years with utmost bravery and sincerity. He joined the Bangladesh Police Service on 15 February 1988 as an assistant Superintendent. Later he was appointed as an additional Inspector General of Police headquarters, Commandant of the Police Training center in Tangail, and Deputy Inspector General (Admin & Operations) of Police headquarters.
For his incredible bravery and dedication to his service, he was assigned as the Deputy Inspector General of Finance at the Police Headquarters and then Chief Instructor of the Bangladesh Police Academy. On 14 October 2010, he was appointed as the Police Commissioner of the largest unit of Bangladesh, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). For his utmost sincerity and dedication to work, he became the 8th Director General of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on 7 January 2015.
On 15 April 2020, Benazir Ahmed became the 28th Inspector General of Bangladesh Police. Since 10 December 2021, he has been on the list of US sanctions due to the allegation of forcibly disappearing citizens. He retired from his responsibility as an IGP of Bangladesh Police on 30 September 2022.
Life of "Benazir Ahmed" At a Glance
Real Name: Benazir Ahmed
Date of Birth: 1 October 1963
Place of Birth: Modhumoti, Tungipara, Gopalganj
Father Name: Syed Riaz Ahmed
Mother Name: Firoza Begum
Sibling: Not Known
Professions:
28th Inspector General of Bangladesh Police, from 15 April 2020 to 30 September 2022.
➢ President: Abdul Hamid
➢ Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
➢ Preceded by: Mohammad Javed Patwary
➢ Succeeded by: Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun
8th Director General of Rapid Action Battalion, from 7 January 2015 to 14 April 2020.
➢ President: Abdul Hamid
➢ Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
➢ Preceded by: Md. Mokhlesur Rahman
➢ Succeeded by: Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun
31st police Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police from 14 October 2010 to 8 January 2015.
➢ Appointed by: Minister of Home Affairs
➢ Preceded by: A.K.M Shahidul Haque
➢ Succeeded by: Asaduzzaman Mia
➢ Chief Instructor of the Bangladesh Police Academy in Sardah.
➢ Deputy Inspector General of Finance and Development at the Police Headquarters.
➢ Deputy Inspector General (Admin & Operations) of Police headquarters.
➢ Commandant of the Police Training Center in Tangail.
➢ Additional Inspector General of Police headquarters.
➢ Police Super at Kishoreganj district.
➢ Superintendent of Police in Bangladesh Police Academy.
➢ Assistant Superintendent on 15 February 1988.
Education:
➢ B.A. in English Literature from Dhaka University.
➢ MA, L.L.B, and MBA from Dhaka University.
➢ Ph. D in Business Administration from an American University.
Religion: Islam
Native Language: Bangla
Spouse: Jishan Ahmed
Children: Three daughters
➢ Rista
➢ Raisa
➢ Jara
Favorite Hobby: Not known.
Awards and Achievements:
➢ Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM) 6 times in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019.
➢ Inspector General Police Exemplary Good Service Badge.
➢ Rector’s Medal from BPATC.
➢ Appointed as an Expert member to review the UN Police Division of the United Nations Global Level “Independent Panel” from December 2015 to May 2016.
➢ A first official from the Asian Subcontinent to lead the Mission Management and Support Section of the Department of the United Nations of Peacekeeping Operations, New York, on May 5, 2008.
➢ Honorary member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), USA.
➢ OIC of the Police Division of UNDPKO.
➢ Member of International Police Association (IPA), UK.
➢ President of the South Asian Chess Confederation and Bangladesh Chess Federation.
➢ Chairman of Community Bank.
➢ Assigned as a Commander of Bangladesh Police Contingent during the United Nations mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Bosnia (UNMIBH) in 2005.
➢ UN Medal for the Service for Peace in UN HQ, New York, USA in 2009.
➢ UN medal for the Service for Peace in Kosovo in 2003.
➢ UN medal for the Service for Peace in Bosnia in 1996.
Early Life
Benazir Ahmed was born on 1 October, 1963. He is 59 years old as of 2023. His birthplace is in the village named Modhumoti of Tungipara Upazilla of Gopalganj district. Benazir is the son of Syed Riaz Ahmed and Firoza Begum. He spent his childhood with his family in Gopalganj.
Education
Benazir Ahmed has completed his schooling from a local school in Gopalganj. After passing the I.A., he studied honors in English Literature from Dhaka University. He also achieved the degree of LLB and MBA from Dhaka University after finishing his B.A. Besides having a pretty busy schedule, he managed to gain a Ph.D. in Business Administration from an American University.
Career
Benazir Ahmed started his career as an Assistant Superintendent. He joined the Bangladesh Police Force on 15 February 1988 through the Police Cadre performing the 7th BCS. Later he was assigned to multiple reputed posts for his honesty and dedication.
Benazir came into the limelight while representing our country in the United Nations. He got several honorable memberships from INCP, UNDPKO, and IPA. There he uplifted our honor by representing our country to the world. He also played an important role by serving in the United Nations peacekeeping missions from the front line.
On 14 October 2010, he became the Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. He got huge appreciation for saving Dhaka from the conflict of Hefajot-e-Islam on 5 May 2013. In 2014 and 2015, he also eliminated the petrol bomb terror with his team from Dhaka. There he played a vital role by saving the city and citizens from the heinous attacks.
In 2015, Benazir became the Director General of the Bangladesh Elite Force, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Just after one year, in 2016, he had to handle the biggest terror attack in the history of Bangladesh. The terror attack on Holy Artisan was not just a challenge for him. Rather the incident shocked the whole nation. There he appeared as a blessing with his great intelligence and strategy. Benazir stood by his team the whole time and handled the terror attack with utmost bravery and sincerity.
Benazir stood against one of the most horrific crimes, the drug business in Bangladesh as well. He also took action with the help of the administration against the dishonest businessman for mixing formalin in foods.
Benazir was held in high regard in 2020 during his action against Casino. He led the team and took high actions avoiding any threat against the Casinos. There he showed his immense honesty and commitment to his duty by standing against crime.
He also played a vital role by stopping the crime of leaking question papers. That’s how he saved the life of the students from falling in the dark.
On 30 September 2022, he took his retirement from 34 years of prestigious career.
Contributions, Awards and Achievements
As a dedicated Police Officer in Bangladesh, Benazir Ahmed has incredible contributions to the country. From 1996 to 2016, he uplifted our country by representing himself as an honorable member of several organizations in the USA and UK. Moreover, his contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping missions held our country in high regard to the world.
After joining as a Commissioner of DMP (Dhaka Metropolitan Police), Benazir brought a huge change to the whole system. As a part of Bangladesh Police Structural Reform, he established the “Police Internal Oversight” (PIO) to confirm the accountability of police.
Benazir also brought a huge change to the digitalization of the Police stations. He established the DMP Media Centre and DMP Official Websites for the betterment of the citizens. Moreover, he contributed to starting the DMP Online News Portal and DMP Official Facebook and YouTube Channel as well.
Apart from all these changes, Benazir also created a new direction for the management systems of the stations. There he established:
- E-Traffic Prosecution System.
- Pay-Roll Management Software System.
- Ration Store Software System.
- Inventory Management Software
- Suspect Identification and Verification System.
A Dog Squad in the Police Force was also added by Benazir Ahmed. Besides all these contributions, he also initiated the addition of eight more new police stations in Dhaka. They are Wary, Rupnagar, Shahjahanpur, Banani, Vatara, Vashantek, Mugda and Uttara West. If all of the stations start to work, there will be a total of 49 police stations in DMP.
This honorable Police Officer also played a significant role during the pandemic of Corona. Maintaining all the discipline around the whole country, he and his entire Police Force made a great contribution to the whole nation.
Because of his outstanding work, Benazir Ahmed was assigned as the President of the Bangladesh Police Service three times. He also achieved the BPM award for six times. As a responsible and dedicated Police Officer, he became the 41st IGP of the Bangladesh Police Force.
Personal Life
To talk about Benazir Ahmed’s personal life, he is married to Jishan Ahmed. The couple is the parents of three daughters named Rista, Raisa, and Jara.
Just like his duty, Benazir Ahmed is also an expert in playing chess. That’s the reason he was appointed as the President of the South Asian Chess Confederation. He is also the President of the Bangladesh Chess Federation.
Besides being a strict Police Officer, Benazir Ahmed is an Incredible human being as well. Often he is seen in several charitable functions serving the poor. That’s why he is respected and loved by the entire nation.
Controversies
Despite being an incredible and dedicated Police Officer, Benazir Ahmed has faced controversies too. In December 2021, his name came on the US sanctions list with the allegation of forcibly disappearing citizens. The U.S. Department of the Treasury accused Ahmed of adding his name to the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) under the Global Magnitsky Act.
But Benazir denied all the allegations against him. He held liable the sanctions on Propaganda and anti-state forces. He also accused specifically an unnamed group whose “South Asia Director” was a Pakistani citizen.
The IGP was suspected of being involved in the murder of Ekramul Haque, the councilor of Teknaf. But he clearly denied the accusation and was not found guilty as well.
In 2022, a notice was issued from the Home Ministry that the IGP with two other officials are going on a 9-day visit to Germany to check the quality of 1 lac pieces of bed sheet for the Police Department. The notice caused a stir on social media and the trip was canceled. Later Bangladesh Police claimed the report to be “untrue and misleading”.
Benazir Ahmed was controversial again in 2022 when an actress from Bangladesh named Porimoni made accusations about him in front of the media. The actress accused the Police Officer of threatening to rape and kill her.
In 2023, Benazir Ahmed was accused of being involved with two gold traders named Arav and Rabiul. Arav and Rabiul both are accused of murdering a police Officer in Dhaka. However, the former IGP clarified on his social media that he does not know any of them, and he has no knowledge about Arav and Rabiul Islam.
Legacy
No matter inside or outside the country, Benazir Ahmed made a huge contribution to the nation. Being an honorable member of multiple International Organizations, he has made our country more prestigious.
Moreover, the changes and digitalization process he established in the Police Force have brought a huge change in the whole system. All the process has made the law easier to perform and given the citizens more excess to take the help of the force.
The addition of the dog squad and all the digital elements has made the security of the nation safer. So, even if he has taken off from his responsibility, still his contribution and service will make him remembered in the long run by the whole nation.
Conclusion
Benazir Ahmed is one of the most dedicated, sincere, and responsible Police Officers the country has ever had. The way he represented our country to the world has raised our honor. Moreover, his bravery and strategic actions have safeguarded the city and the nation many times. His contribution and smart strategies have made an enormous rotation to the entire system of maintaining law. Thus his contribution and dedication to the Police Force and the nation will never be forgotten.
