Jatiya Party MP, son held over war crimes

Police picked up Jatiya Party lawmaker MA Hannan, his son and three others today hours after arrest warrants were issued against them for their alleged involvement in crimes committed in Mymensingh during the Liberation War.

MA Hannan, 80, lawmaker from Trishal (Mymensingh-7) and presidium member of Jatiya Party, and Rafique Sazzad, 62, were arrested from capital’s Gulshan area around 4:00pm, Rafiqul Islam, assistant commissioner of Gulshan Zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told The Daily Star.

Hannan is the second seating lawmaker to be arrested on war crimes charges. Earlier in 2010, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was arrested in a war crimes case when he was a lawmaker of the then opposition party -- BNP.

The three-member International Crimes Tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque issued the arrest warrants against eight suspects including the arrestees after prosecutor Sultan Mahmud Simon moved a petition.

Simon said Hannan was the general secretary of Mymensingh district Peace Committee, an anti-liberation organisation, during the Liberation War. 

He added that the investigation against the eight started on July 28 and the investigation officers have already found their involvement in various war-time crimes including murders.

The eight accused need to be detained for fair and proper investigation, he said.

The three other arrestees are: Dr Khondaker Golam Sabbir Ahmed, 69, Mizanur Rahman Minto, 63, and Hormuj Ali, 73.