Jessore war crimes suspect Sakhawat Hossain held
Police arrested a war crimes suspect Mawlana Sakhawat Hossain at Uttar Khan in Dhaka this evening.
Sakhawat Hossain, 70, former lawmaker of Jamaat and BNP in Jessore-6 (Keshabpur), went on hiding since a war crimes probe against him began in February 2011.
Law enforcers arrested him from the ground floor of a house at Masterpara in Uttar Khan around 6:00pm, Yunus Ali, officer-in-charge of Uttar Khan Police Station, told The Daily Star.
The war crimes investigation agency received a number of allegations of murder, mass killing and other crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War against Sakhawat.
A probe which started on April 1, 2012, would soon be completed and the report would be submitted to the International Crimes Tribunal.
Sakhawat’s candidature was cancelled over war crimes allegations after Jatiya Party picked him to contest the January 5 parliamentary polls from Jessore-6 (Keshabpur) constituency.
Locals and sources in the war crimes probe body said Sakhawat was a central committee member of the then Islami Chhatra Shangha (now Islami Chhatra Shibir) in 1971.
When the Liberation War began, he joined the Razakar force and was the in-charge of Hisladanga Razakar camp of Keshabpur.
After the Liberation War, Sakhawat went into hiding and resurfaced in 1986 as a local leader of Jamaat-e-Islami.
He contested the 1991 parliamentary polls with Jamaat’s ticket in Jessore-6 (Keshabpur) constituency and was elected an MP.
Later, he joined BNP and became a lawmaker again in the short-lived parliament formed through the February 15, 1996 election.
When BNP and Jamaat formed an alliance before the 2001 elections, he could not secure the party ticket and contested the poll as an independent candidate.
He was expelled from BNP for his disobedience and joined JP afterwards.
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