The locked police camp sits a few steps from a cluster of large houses in Bainya village, about 25 kilometres from Dhamrai municipality.
Inaugurated with an official ceremony in June 2024, the facility now stands deserted, its gates closed since the uprising that triggered the fall of the Awami League government two years ago.
For many residents, the abandoned outpost has become both a curiosity and a reminder.
The camp, equipped with one sub-inspector, two assistant sub-inspectors and about 10 constables, was established after a robbery at the residence of former Awami League lawmaker Benazir Ahmed's elder brother, according to local officials.
Then Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal formally inaugurated it on June 10, 2024. Residents say southern Dhamrai had long suffered from inadequate policing and question why a permanent police facility was placed beside the family home of the area's most powerful politician instead of a more centrally accessible location.
Officer-in-Charge Nazmul Huda Khan of Dhamrai Police Station told Daily Waadaa that the camp had been established for the former MP's security. “He was a powerful figure and he opened that camp for his convenience,” said Huda.
Huda told Waadaa that while some residents have called for the camp to be reopened, police are considering relocating it to a more suitable site. He also said reports that Benazir Ahmed had “recently returned to Dhaka had repeatedly surfaced but were never substantiated.”
The debate over the police camp has become intertwined with a broader examination of the political and financial legacy of Benazir Ahmed, a three-term member of parliament from the Dhaka-20 constituency.
Benazie was also a former chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs and former president of the Dhaka District Awami League.
Elected on the promise of delivering "50 years of development in five years," Benazir was once among the ruling party's most influential political figures in the district.
After the uprising, he faced multiple allegations, ranging from abuse of political influence and unexplained wealth to nepotism, land acquisition, involvement in controversial development projects and links to one of Bangladesh's largest overseas labour recruitment scandals.
Several of the allegations are now the subject of investigations or court proceedings.
Bainya was once an ordinary rural settlement. During Benazir's rise in national politics, however, several palatial residences appeared there, including houses belonging to Benazir and his two brothers.
Now almost all of those houses have remained largely unoccupied.
Residents allege that the properties were built with wealth accumulated through corruption and abuse of office. Those allegations have not been proven in court. Benazir has previously denied wrongdoing in public statements on other allegations against him.
Local residents describe what they say was an extensive family-based political network that extended across Dhamrai. They point to the appointments and electoral victories of close relatives in local government institutions.
His brother-in-law, Nuruzzaman Khan, served as chairman of Kushura Union Parishad, while his nephew Siraj Uddin Siraj became vice chairman of Dhamrai Upazila. Another nephew, Mahfuzul Haque Shahin, has faced allegations of illegally excavating soil from rivers and agricultural land in different parts of the area.
“The whole area was completely under the control of Benazir and his family members,” Shamim Ahmed, a local businessman told Daily Waadaa, “The political influence of the family made it difficult for any police or administration to take any action against them when they did wrong.”
Shamim said they also refrained from speaking publicly during Benazir's years in office because of fears of retaliation.
Another controversy surrounding Benazir and his family centres on the Akshir Nagar housing project in Kulla Union.
Farmers and local residents allege that nearly 3,000 bighas of agricultural land and wetlands were filled to develop the project. They claim land acquisition and implementation proceeded with political backing from Benazir Ahmed.
Benazir has repeatedly rejected those allegations, telling reporters at different times that he had no involvement with the project and describing the accusations as politically motivated.
Residents nevertheless said that the project proceeded without adequately considering environmental consequences or the interests of farmers whose land was affected.
“My land was almost forcefully taken from me,” Khokon Mia, a resident of Kulla Union, told Daily Waadaa, “I was given a fraction of actual land price but I couldn’t say anything in fear of Benazir’s people.”
Environmental concerns have also emerged around the Gazikhali River dredging project in Suapur Union. Residents allege that a politically connected syndicate used the project as a cover for large-scale commercial extraction of sand and soil.
According to local accounts, the contractor awarded the dredging work and subcontracted the project to politically influential individuals instead of carrying it out directly.
Rather than dredging silted sections of the river, they allegedly deployed mini dredgers in flowing stretches to extract commercially valuable sand and soil for sale elsewhere.
Hazrat Ali, a resident of the area, said the extraction had increased riverbank erosion and placed nearby homes and farmland at risk. Another resident, Hashem Mia, said changes in the river's course had left communities along the banks living with growing uncertainty.
Residents further allege that local elected representatives and political leaders associated with Benazir protected the operation, allowing illegal extraction to continue despite administrative oversight.
Beyond local politics, Benazir Ahmed's name has also appeared in one of Bangladesh's most significant labour migration investigations.
He owns the recruiting agency Ahmed International and previously served as president of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies, or BAIRA.
Investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission and law enforcement agencies allege that he was among the influential figures in a syndicate that controlled recruitment of Bangladeshi workers for Malaysia.
Investigators allege that the syndicate restricted recruitment to a limited number of agencies, creating an artificial shortage that enabled excessive recruitment fees to be collected from migrant workers.
The group has also been accused of exploiting workers and embezzling thousands of crores of taka. Benazir has not been convicted in connection with those allegations.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has recently filed separate cases against Benazir Ahmed and his wife, Sahina Ahmed. According to the commission, investigators identified 18.18 crore taka in assets in Benazir Ahmed's name but found evidence of legitimate income amounting to only 18.67 lakh taka.
The ACC alleges that he accumulated nearly 18 crore taka in assets beyond his known sources of income. Investigators also reported transactions exceeding 84 crore taka through 11 bank accounts linked to his interests, allegations that form part of the commission's money laundering and illicit wealth investigation.
The commission has also accused Sahina Ahmed of acquiring more than 1 crore taka in assets beyond her known sources of income.
Since last year's anti-discrimination student-led movement and the subsequent political transition, multiple criminal cases have been filed against Benazir Ahmed and local Awami League leaders in Dhamrai.
Law enforcement agencies say efforts to arrest those named in the cases are continuing.
For many residents, the abandoned police camp thus has come to represent a wider story.
“He was once so powerful that he established a police camp near his house for protection,” said local resident Hazrat Ali, “Now his house is abandoned.”
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