FF links 2 Shariatpur 'Razakars' to killing of scores, rape of 13
A freedom fighter testifying in a war crimes case yesterday linked two alleged Shariatpur Razakars to killings of scores of people and rape of at least 13 women during the 1971 Liberation War.
From Dhanuka village under Palang Police Station, Abdul Aziz Sikder, 62, the case's first prosecution witness, told International Crimes Tribunal-1 that he saw some of the incidents and heard the others from witnesses and victims.
Facing four charges, Sulaiman Mollah is now in jail and pleads not guilty while Edris Ali Sarder is on the run.
Aziz said while they were preparing to fight under one Sultan Mahmud Simon's leadership right after March 26, the accused formed Shanti Committee and Razakar Bahini taking assistance from local Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim League men.
The accused and some others welcomed the Pakistani occupation army when the latter arrived in the local Angaria Bazar on May 22, said Aziz, commander of Palang Thana Muktijoddha Sangsad.
The Razakars and the army men vandalised shops and Aziz said to have followed the group as they left.
Some half a kilometre away, the group met one Abdul Samad Sikder whom the accused identified as a member of Mukti Bahini, he said, adding that one of the army men then shot Samad and he died on reaching his house.
The group went to the house of one Shambhu Karmakar in nearby Kashavog village and the accused identified him as a member of the Hindu community, following which one of the army men shot him dead, the witness said.
Aziz said the group then entered Madyapara village, some one kilometre from Dhanuka, and he saw flames arise and heard gunshots. The following morning, he said to have gone there with some others and found 200 to 250 bodies scattered around.
Around 11:00am, he heard screams in Malopara (community of fishermen) of Uttar Madyapara and he and some villagers went there, said Aziz.
From one Malu Das, he said to have learnt that the group had kept 30 to 35 people confined in a house and marched towards Rudrakar village where the army men killed a priest, Chandra Mohan Chakrabarty, after the accused identified him.
Later, the group took the captives, including women and children, to an army camp set up at AR Hawlader Jute Mill in Madaripur, he added.
Aziz said 13 women and two children were released after three days and he heard from two of the women that they had been raped all this time by the group and that the male captives had been killed.
In mid-June, Pakistani army men, in association with the accused and other Razakars, killed two Hindu men of their village, said Aziz.
Defence counsel Gazi MH Tamim started cross-examining Aziz and the three-member tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque adjourned proceedings until today.
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