Charges pressed against nine men

The prosecution yesterday pressed eight charges against nine men from Mymensingh and Jamalpur in a case filed for allegedly committing crimes during the Liberation War, 1971.

Prosecutor Abul Kalam submitted the formal charges along with statements of prosecution witnesses and other documents before the International Crimes Tribunal-1. It fixed July 10 to decide whether it will take the charges into cognisance.

The accused were “involved” in eight incidents of crimes where at least 101 people were killed, 10 to 13 people were injured, a woman was raped and 110 to 112 houses were torched in Muktagachha and Mymensingh Sadar upazila, according to the investigators.

Among the eight charges, three were related to act of genocide, one with rape and others with murder and other crimes, Abul Kalam told this correspondent. Of the arrestees, Abdus Salam, 75, Suruj Ali Fakir, 62, Joyen Uddin Faruki alias Joynal Abedin, 60, Abdur Rahim alias Abdur Rahim Master, 67, Jalal Uddin, 59, and Rustam Ali, 70, are now in jail. Shamsher Kakir, 66, Fazlul Haque, and Shamsul Haque, 70, are on the run, Kalam said.The tribunal's investigation agency on March 29 completed the probe and said to have found evidence against the nine men. Abdus Salam was allegedly involved with Al-Badr force, while the rest were alleged Razakar men, the agency said.