Probe agency finds evidence against eleven men

The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal yesterday claimed to have found evidence of involvement of 11 Khulna men in crimes committed during the Liberation War in 1971.

The accused were “involved” with Razakar Bahini and killed 22 people, while they torched and looted 56 to 57 houses in six incidents in Dumuria upazila of Khulna, said ICT Coordinator Abdul Hannan Khan at a press conference at its Dhanmondi office in the capital.

The accused are Sheikh Abdur Rahim, Samsur Rahman Gazi alias Mejho Vai, Omar Ali Fakir, Jahan Ali Biswas, Akkas Sardar, Najer Ali Fakir, Shahjahan Sardar, Abdul Karim Sheikh, Abu Bakkar Sardar, Raoshan Gazi and Sohrab Hossain Sardar alias Abdul Hamid -- all between 60 and 82 years of age.

All of them are from Dumuria upazila and committed the crimes between May 20 and July 27 in 1971, Hannan said.

Of them, Akkas and Omar are on the run while the rest are in jail. All the 11 were involved with Jamaat-e-Islami during the war.

At present, only Abdur and Samsur have affiliation with the anti-liberation party while the rest are not involved with any political party.

In many cases, the Razakars were seen working under the guidance of Pakistani army during the Liberation War but those accused Razakars had worked independently, he said.

The accused Razakars took training in Khulna, said Helal Uddin, investigation officer of the case, adding that he had collected a list of Razakars containing their names.

It was a haat (weekly market) day on May 27, 1971, when the Razakars abducted one Mansur Ali, a pro-liberation man, and took him to Kharnia Union Parishad office, which was turned into a Razakar camp.

They tried to hang him from a big mango tree by hitting nails in his body. But they could not do so as people in the market objected. Later, they took Mansur on the bank of Bhadra river at Kharnia Kheya Ghat and slit his throat.

In another incident, the accused abducted and tortured Lalit Mohan Mallik and Ali Box from Bhadradia village, Helal said. They threw the two alive into the river by tying bricks around their body.

When Ali's son Abdul Kashem Sheikh went to find his father's body, the accused also shot him dead.

Their bodies were never found, Helal added.

Sheikh Mosfeq Kabir, the prosecutor who is dealing the case, said they had received the investigation report and other documents and would seek three months from the tribunal to scrutinise the documents.

If the tribunal allows time and are satisfied with the documents, they will press charges against the accused for initiating their trail, he added.

Meanwhile, replying to a query, the investigators said they were also investigating the war crimes allegations against BNP leader and former minister Osman Farooq and would inform when the investigation ends.