On paper, the basic salary of an officer-in-charge (OC) of a police station in Bangladesh is Tk 22,000 under the ninth national pay scale.
With other allowances, the monthly income of an inspector-ranked OC usually totals around Tk 60,000 to Tk 65,000 — adding up to no more than Tk 8 lakh annually.
Despite this limited income, Ekram Ali Mia, former OC Dhanmondi Police Station, has managed to acquire multiple high-value properties in the capital, including one flat in his name and two others in his wife’s.
All three flats are located in the upscale Dhanmondi area and were purchased between 2018 and 2024. Ekram served as the OC of Hazaribagh Police Station in 2018 and then held the post at Dhanmondi from July 2020 to June 2023.
But the story doesn’t end there. His wife, Kaniz Fatema Mukta, owns a six-storey residential building in the capital’s Khilkhet. Even his mother-in-law has a flat in Dhanmondi, while another flat in Keraniganj is registered under his relative’s name.
These details came to light through a recent investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission, prompting the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court to order the seizure of the family’s immovable assets.
ACC Assistant Director Alius Hossain filed the petition to freeze the assets, stating that the couple and their beneficiaries amassed these properties worth around Tk 5.38 crore through corruption.
Judge Md Zakir Hossain issued the seizure order yesterday. The judge also ordered the authorities concerned to send a copy of the order for the next course of action.
In the petition, ACC mentioned that Ekram, now posted as an inspector of CID in Faridpur, with the help of his wife and others, amassed a huge amount of money through illegal means.
ACC also said it had credible information that the family was planning to transfer the assets, which could hinder the investigation.
Without disclosing any further details, ACC Assistant Director Alius Hossain told this newspaper, “The investigation is underway.”
Investigators said Ekram also served as an inspector of the Detective Branch (Gulshan Division) under DMP.
According to ACC documents obtained by The Daily Star, Ekram owns a 1,800-square-foot flat in Dhanmondi with a registered value of Tk 33.45 lakh, bought in 2024. He also holds three kathas of land in Badda valued at Tk 19 lakh and 7.5 decimals of land in Gopalganj Sadar with a deed value of Tk 1.04 lakh.
Ekram used his position to show a lower purchase rate for the assets than the actual market value, said investigators.
His wife owns two additional flats in Dhanmondi — measuring 1,534.72 and 767.36 square feet — together valued at Tk 72.25 lakh. The six-storey building in Khilkhet was purchased for Tk 3.13 crore, while her other properties include plots of land in Gopalganj and Hazaribagh.
One land in Hazaribagh, measuring 97.5 ajutangs (a traditional unit), was found in her name with a deed value of Tk 8.25 lakh.
In response to the allegations, Ekram denied any wrongdoing and claimed that all his assets were declared in his income tax filings. He also said the properties in his wife’s name were inherited. “Since this is a matter before the court, it would be more appropriate for me to speak on this matter,” he told The Daily Star.
The court also ordered the seizure of properties belonging to three others believed to be connected to Ekram and his wife. These include a 1,800-square-foot flat in Dhanmondi owned by his mother-in-law Rowshan Ara Begum Jharna, a 1,500-square-foot flat in Keraniganj registered to Tania Akter, and 14 kathas of land in Keraniganj under the name of Imdadul Haque.
Asked about Tania and Imdadul, Ekram said, “I don’t recall them being any of our relatives. We sold some land, so they might be the buyers.”