5 war crime accused held in Sunamganj

Five war crimes accused were arrested in Sunamganj on Wednesday.

Police arrested the five from different upazilas in the district following arrest warrant issued by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), said Mohammad Barkatullah, superintendent of police (SP) in Sunamganj.

The arrestees are Jobayer Monir of Doulatpur village, Jakir Hossain of Gungirgaon village, Siddiqur Rahman of Shosharkanda village and Tota Miah of Ujangaon village in Shalla upazila and Abdul Jalil of Perua village in Derai upazila.

On December 6 in 1971, two mass killings took place at Ujangaon village in Shalla upazila and Perua village in Derai upazila. Abdul Khaleque, commander of razakars in the haor region, carried out the mass killings.

In 2015, freedom fighter Rajani Kanta Das, who also lost his family members in a mass killing, filed a petition with the ICT accusing Khaleque's son Pradip Monir and others.

Following the appeal, the tribunal in 2016 started investigating the war crimes at the villages and after the investigation, it issued arrest warrant against 11 accused war criminals.

Among the accused, five have been arrested and five others are on the run while the rest died a few years ago, said the SP, adding that the arrestees were sent to jail.