The district administration has taken control of Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park, owned by former inspector general of police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed and his family members, in Gopalganj.

Gopalganj district administration appointed a receiver in Benazir's park on Friday – 16 days after a Dhaka court issued an order in this regard.

Gopalganj Assistant Commissioner (Land) Babli Shabnam said all activities of the park are going on from Saturday morning as per the instructions of the deputy commissioner.

Gopalganj Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kazi Mahbubul Alam told reporters that the district administration has taken control of the Savannah Resort on the orders of the court. From now on everything including the maintenance of the resort will be controlled by the district administration.

He said, “There are three parts here. Among them, the District Fisheries Office will be responsible for the management of ponds or fish enclosures, the District Agriculture Office will be in charge of the management of agricultural land and the district administration will be responsible for the resort.”

Mentioning that he has not yet received the official verdict of the court, the DC further said, “After getting the verdict of the court, we will manage these assets properly.

The primary purpose of the court and the ACC is the proper management of the property, not its foreclosure. We will manage it by forming a committee. We will keep the income in an account. After receiving the verdict, we will assume the overall responsibility.”

On Friday evening, teams from Gopalganj district administration and Madaripur and Gopalganj Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) offices arrived in front of Savanna Eco Resort and Natural Park. Later they entered the park and took control of it. At around 11:30 pm on Friday, an announcement was made in front of the main gate of the park through a megaphone that the district administration had taken control of it.

The daily Kaler Kantho, owned by Bashundhara Group, published a report titled “Aladdin's lamp in Benazir's house” on 31 March and another one titled “Benazir's resort in forest land” on 3 April, alleging that former IGP Benazir acquired illegal wealth.

During the discussion on the matter, Habiganj-4 Constituency Lawmaker Syed Sayedul Haque Suman appealed to the ACC to investigate the illegal assets of the former IGP and his family members and take necessary legal action.

Then, ACC decided to investigate the complaint in a commission meeting on 18 April. For that purpose a committee of three members was formed.

Meanwhile, ACC filed a case against Shafiqul Islam, an official of the resort, at Sadar police station on the charge of stealing fish from the impounded pond of Benazir’s park.

ACC's Gopalganj Coordinated District Office conducted a raid and seized 555 kg of tilapia fish and 37.50 kg of Katla fish around 5 am on Saturday. Later, ACC Assistant Director Md Sohrab Hossain Sohel filed a case against Shafiqul, who was in charge of the resort’s hatchery.