Published on 12:00 AM, March 06, 2011

Nur not innocent

Law minister trashes the fugitive Bangabandhu killer's interview


Nur Chowdhury

SHMB Nur Chowdhury, the convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has recently claimed to be innocent, saying he was not involved in the assassination.
"I am innocent. I did not assassinate the then president of Bangladesh," Nur Chowdhury, now in Canada, said in a feature interview aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The law minister and state counsels in the Bangabandhu assassination case yesterday termed the reported statement of Nur Chowdhury "false" and "unacceptable".
The government is trying to bring back all the six fugitive killers of Bangabandhu, including Nur Chowdhury, through diplomatic channels to put them on trial, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told The Daily Star.
Nur told the CBC interview aired on February 28 that he filed a petition to a Canadian court so that he is not extradited.
He is trying to get refugee protection in Canada and is currently living in Toronto under a deportation order, the CBC radio reports.
Nur was a member of the killing squad that stormed into the house of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Road 32 in Dhanmondi on August 15, 1975.
The Supreme Court on November 19, 2009 upheld a High Court verdict that affirmed the trial court judgement, which sentenced Nur, along with 11 others, to death.
In the verdict, the apex court also convicted Nur as the lone shooter who killed Bangabandhu.
Nur, a former lieutenant colonel of Bangladesh army, has been absconding since the day the case was filed on October 2, 1996 for assassinating Sheikh Mujib and his family.
The law minister yesterday termed Nur's appeal not to deport him to Bangladesh as "totally unacceptable" and expressed the hope that the Canadian court will dismiss it.
"As far as we know he is trying to get Canadian citizenship and has recently filed a petition to a Canadian court not to deport him to Bangladesh. In the petition, he said he would be executed if the Canadian authorities extradite him," the minister said.
Mentioning the Canadian law is against the refuge-seekers who ask for shelter after committing atrocious crimes, Shafique said, "We are hopeful that the court will dismiss his petition eventually after considering his past record of committing such heinous crime and observing fair trial procedures, accepted globally, in the case."
The law minister also expressed concern saying that other convicted fugitives of the case might take such initiatives to save their lives.
Shafique said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would go to Canada next month, but he did not say whether she would settle the matter of brining Nur Chowdhury to Bangladesh.
The five other fugitives are Lt Col Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col Shariful Haque Dalim, Lt Col AM Rashed Chowdhury, Capt Abdul Mazed and Risaldar Mosleuddin Khan. The other convict Lt Col Abdul Aziz Pasha died in Zimbabwe in June 2001 where he took political asylum.
Anisul Huq, principal state counsel in the Bangabandhu assassination case, told The Daily Star that the Court of District and Sessions Judge had found proof of Nur Chowdhury's involvement in the killing of Bangabandhu and most of his family members.
The HC in a complete scrutiny of the evidence of record found him guilty, and thereafter the Appellate Division also gave a judgement wherein Nur Chowdhury and 11 other accused were found guilty.
Anisul Huq said at this point Nur's statement is ridiculous, adding, he could have appeared before the court and claimed his innocence.
The very fact that he has been absconding for so long proves his guilt, he said, adding, his statement made in the interview is false and travesty of truth.
"In my opinion he is a liar. According to the evidence and record, he is the killer of Bangabandhu," the counsel added.
Quoting the statements of the witnesses of the case, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said Nur Chowdhury had fired at Bangabandhu on the stairs of the house on Road 32 in Dhanmondi
"After killing Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975, Nur Chowdhury told LD Bashir Ahmed, who was also a witness in this case, that he [Nur] fired at Bangabandhu by a stengun," he said.
He added Nur Chowdhury and Aziz Pasha were the most heinous of all the killers of Bangabandhu, as Aziz opened fire on women of his family that night.