While government officials are required to hold official passports, Harunor Rashid’s passport was categorized as an ordinary one

TDS Desk

Controversial Additional Police Commissioner (DIG) and former head of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Harunor Rashid, has obtained a passport by concealing information.

While government officials are required to hold official passports, Harunor Rashid’s passport was categorized as an ordinary one.

Documents related to this fraudulent passport have been obtained by several media, and Rashid is currently in hiding.

Previously, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed also secured a passport through similar fraudulent means. Despite being a government official, his passport falsely listed his occupation as private job.

An investigation revealed that the same syndicate responsible for Benazir Ahmed’s passport helped Harunor Rashid acquire his.

Allegations have been made against Passport Office Director Tawfiq-ul Islam Khan, Chittagong Divisional Passport Office Director Saidul Islam, and Sylhet Divisional Director Abdullah Al Mamun, all of whom were previously deputy directors at the Dhaka Divisional Passport Office.

Sources said that Harunor Rashid last obtained an official passport on September 13, 2012, which was valid until August 29, 2017.

On June 15, 2017, he surrendered this passport and applied for a new general one at the Gazipur Passport Office. Just 11 days later, he received his general passport, valid from June 18, 2017, to June 17, 2022.

On January 1, 2018, he applied again for another general passport at the Agargaon Divisional Passport Office, which he received on February 18, 2018. Its validity spanned from February 22, 2018, to February 21, 2023.

In the meantime, on August 4, 2021, Rashid applied for an e-passport at the Agargaon office and received it by August 17, 2021. This passport is valid for 10 years, until August 3, 2031.

Multiple passport office officials said that this practice blatantly violates the law.

A government official is not permitted to hold an ordinary passport, especially someone in a senior position like Harunor Rashid, whose passport should have been official.

The passport officials claimed that Rashid used his influence or formed close ties with the then-director to obtain the ordinary passport.

When questioned, Additional Director General of the Department, Selina Banu, said: “We are aware of the situation and are investigating who was involved in facilitating this. All those responsible will face consequences.”

Sources further revealed that a case is ongoing against Passport Office Director Abdullah Al Mamun for amassing wealth beyond known sources of income.

He is also an accused in an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) case related to issuing a fraudulent passport to Benazir Ahmed.

Tawfiq-ul Islam Khan faces similar allegations, while Saidul Islam is being investigated for alleged corruption involving approximately Tk50 crore.

When asked, Tawfiq-ul Islam said: “I’m not sure if the passport was issued during my tenure. If you have the information, feel free to report it.”

Attempts to contact Saidul Islam and Abdullah Al Mamun for comment were unsuccessful.

Similarly, efforts to reach Harunor Rashid through the phone number listed on his passport yielded no response.

On October 14, the ACC filed a case against former IGP Benazir Ahmed for securing a passport by falsely claiming to be employed in the private sector.

Four others, including former Director of Dhaka Divisional Passport Office Md Fazlul Haque and Technical Manager of the e-Passport and Automated Border Control Project Sahena Haque, were also named in the case.

The ACC alleges that Benazir’s passport was processed despite knowledge of his true position, making the issuance of the passport a punishable offense under the Penal Code, Anti-Corruption Act, and Section 11 of the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973.