Benazir Ahmed, the former chief of Bangladesh’s police force, has been taken into custody in the United Arab Emirates. His arrest follows a high-profile flight from his home country in May 2024, where he was facing a series of serious corruption allegations involving a vast, illegally acquired fortune. Once a prominent figure and close associate of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, Ahmed’s legal troubles extend back to 2021, when the United States sanctioned him for his alleged involvement in numerous extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances while he directed the Rapid Action Battalion.

During a parliamentary address, Bangladesh’s Interior Minister Salahuddin Ahmed confirmed that the arrest took place on June 12, facilitated by an Interpol Red Notice. The minister described the capture as a landmark moment in the nation's efforts to dismantle a long-standing culture of impunity, vowing that no official, regardless of their past influence, remains untouchable. This development comes in the wake of the major political upheaval in August 2024, when a student-led uprising successfully brought down Sheikh Hasina’s government and pushed the former prime minister into exile.