1971 War Crimes: BNP leader Osman faces investigation
The Investigation Agency of the International Crimes Tribunal has launched an investigation against top BNP leader and former education minister Muhammad Osman Farruk into his alleged involvement in crimes committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
“A formal investigation against Osman Farruk has started,” Abdul Hannan Khan, coordinator of the agency, told The Daily Star yesterday.
Helal Uddin, investigation officer of the case, said, “The probe [against Farruk] began on January 4. I am now going through records and will start field level investigation next month.”
Sources in the agency and the prosecution said formal investigation against Farruk, also one of the vice-chairpersons of BNP, began after “evidence over his alleged crimes was found” in preliminary investigation.
Chief Prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo has meanwhile assigned seven prosecutors to assist the investigation officers into the probe of seven separate cases. One of the prosecutors, who was assigned to probe Farruk's alleged crimes, also confirmed the launch of investigation.
After former lawmakers Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Abdul Alim, Farruk is the top BNP leader facing investigation for allegedly committing war crimes. Salauddin was convicted and executed in November 2015. Alim died of old-age complications while serving jail until death.
BNP has always been critical about the trial begun in March 2010 after the Awami League-led government came to power with a pledge to try the perpetrators of war crimes. On several occasions, BNP leaders alleged that the ruling party were using the trial as a tool to eliminate political opponents, something the AL always refuted.
Son of Muhammad Osman Ghani, a former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, Farruk was an assistant professor of the then East Pakistan Agricultural University (now Bangladesh Agricultural University) in 1971. He was elected lawmaker from Kishoreganj-4 in 2001 and became the education minister of BNP-led four-party government.
On May 4 last year, the agency said it started a preliminary probe into alleged crimes Farruk and 10 other teachers of the university committed in 1971.
“Documents show that Osman Farruk was involved with anti-liberation forces,” agency's coordinator, Abdul Hannan Khan, told reporters that day.
Sanaul Huq, coordinator of the investigation agency, told The Daily Star that during investigations in a case against Jatiya Party lawmaker MA Hannan of Mymensingh, they had learned that the Pakistani occupation army set up a torture cell turning the university into a cantonment.
He added they had obtained a secret intelligence report prepared in 1972 stating about some teachers' anti-liberation activities.
On Furruk, the report wrote, “[he] Had regular meetings with army officers; invited them to his house for tea, dinners, etc; used to speak against the Mukti Bahini and Awami League leadership publicly and support strongly the army actions; used to work as an informer for Pakistan army.”
An investigator, who was involved in the preliminary investigation, told The Daily Star yesterday that there was an anti-liberation group centring the university and Osman Farruk was a member of that group. The investigator declined to give details.
Replying to a question, IO Helal Uddin said if they found evidence of involvement of other teachers, they would also be booked.
The Daily Star tried to contact Farruk over phone but could not reach him. Earlier on May 4 last year when agency talked about preliminary investigation against him, he termed the allegations “totally false and baseless.”
“Till now nobody asked me about this. Nobody talked to me,” he added.
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