IGP Benazir reaches New York to attend UN conference

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed arrived in New York on Tuesday to attend the United Nations (UN) Chiefs of Police Summit.

He was received a warm welcome at JFK Airport by the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations and Bangladesh Consulate General, New York officials and expatriate Bangladeshis, according to a Bangladesh Police Facebook post.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan will lead the Bangladesh delegation at the summit from 31 August to 1 September, which is expected to discuss United Nations policing priorities in international peace and security processes, among other issues.

Earlier, on 25 August, IGP Benazir Ahmed received travel confirmation to visit the USA to attend the summit.

The United States on 10 December, 2021, sanctioned IGP Benazir and six other former and serving commanders in the Rapid Action Battalion for their human rights violations.

Despite sanctions on Benazir Ahmed, the government nominated him, along with other officials, to represent Bangladesh in the UN Summit. A ministry source said that the IGP might not be allowed to go anywhere else in New York besides the conference venue, as per the protocol.

Apart from the minister and IGP, the home ministry's Joint Secretary Abu Hena Mostafa Zaman, Private Secretary to the minister Md Asaduzzaman, the police headquarters' Additional Deputy Inspector General (UN affairs) Nassian Wazed and IGP's staff officer Assistant Inspector General Muhammad Masud Alam were nominated for the visit.