Freedom fighter killed at Nizami's instruction

A freedom fighter yesterday told International Crimes Tribunal-1 that the auxiliary forces of the Pakistani army killed his co-fighter Sohrab Ali in Bera upazila of Pabna on December 3, 1971 at the instruction of war crimes accused Motiur Rahman Nizami.
On that day, the Pakistani army with Razakar and Al-Badr men also killed many villagers, including Prafulla, Pintu, Munu, Vadu and Shasthi, and burnt down about 70-72 houses in Brishalika village of the upazila, said Jane Alam, now 60.
“At the instruction of Islami Chattra Sangha (Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing in 1971) president Motiur Rahman Nizami and Sathia Thana (in Pabna) Razkar commander Rafikun Nabi Alias Bablu led the mass killing,” said Alam, who heard the incident from villagers.
Testifying as the 16th prosecution witness against Jamaat chief Nizami, he said he was a student of class X during the Liberation War and joined the war hearing Bangabandhu's March 7 address in 1971.
On April 19, 1971, he along with Sohrab and other freedom fighters took part in a frontline battle against the Pakistani army at Shahidnagar in Sathia, Alam said, adding that they had to retreat in that battle.
Alam and Sohrab returned home at Brishalika on December 2, 1971. “On the night of December 3, 1971, when my parents went to feed our cows grass at the cattle shed, they noticed Razakar and Al-Badr men in the village and asked me to leave immediately,” said Alam, who took shelter at a freedom fighters' camp.
Alam returned home the next day after the Pakistani army left Brishalika. “I saw the body of Sohrab," he said. Sohrab was stabbed with bayonet at a village intersection by the Razakar and Pakistani army men and later shot dead, Alam said, quoting villagers.
Following the deposition, the defence cross-examined him. The proceeding was adjourned until August 25.
Meanwhile, the tribunal yesterday asked the prosecution to submit the formal charges or the progress report of the investigation against war crimes suspect Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Abdus Subhan on September 15.
In a petition, Prosecutor Sultan Mahmud Simon sought permission to interrogate Subhan at the safe house. The tribunal fixed August 22 for hearing the petition.