Probe starts against Jamalpur's Ashraf

The special agency designated to probe the 1971 war crimes has started investigations into the alleged offences of Mohammad Ashraf Hossain, historically known for forming the first Al-Badr committee in Jamalpur during the Liberation War.
“We have started field-level investigations and have already visited some crime spots in Jamalpur,” Sanaul Huq, a senior member of the agency, told The Daily Star yesterday.
During a two-day visit to Jamalpur on June 21-22, an investigation team comprising Sanaul Huq and Matiur Rahman visited several mass graves and killing grounds and talked to  victims and witnesses of the atrocities allegedly committed by Ashraf.
Matiur, who is also the investigation officer in the case, told The Daily Star that Ashraf was the president of Mymensingh unit Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, in the first part of 1971 and formed Al-Badr force in Jamalpur.
“It [Al-Badr force] later spread all over the country,” the investigator added.
According to historical documents, Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistan army, was responsible for the planned killing of the intellectuals at the fag end of the nine-month-long war.
On the allegations against Ashraf, Matiur said, “We have just started our investigation and have already received information about his involvement in the killings and acts of genocide in Jamalpur.”
Ekattorer Ghatak O Dalalra Ke Kothaye, a book containing accounts of the alleged killers and collaborators, is a prosecution document in most war crimes cases which are either disposed of or pending in the tribunals.
The book quoted from a report published in the Jamaat's mouthpiece daily Sangram on September 14, 1971 that Al-Badr force was formed under the leadership of Ashraf Hossain, who was “chairman” of Mymensingh Islami Chhatra Sangha, after the Pakistan army entered Jamalpur on April 22, 1971.
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 in its verdict in Jamaat leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman's case observed that Al-Badr was an “action section” and “armed wing” of Jamaat and was formed mainly with the workers of Islami Chhatra Sangha.
As per the verdict, Kamaruzzaman, who was also a top leader of Chhatra Sangha in greater Mymensingh, had played the role of a key organiser in formation of Al-Badr force there.
Matiur said after Ashraf, Kamaruzzaman became the president of Chhatra Sangha in Mymensingh in 1971.
About the whereabouts of Ashraf, Matiur said after independence the war crimes suspect had left for Pakistan and locals of Jamalpur had “seldom” seen him in the district.
“We have heard he got married in Patna, India, and has been living there. But we are not sure about it,” he said, adding that he would visit Jamalpur again next month for further investigations.
Sanaul Huq said they would try to complete the investigation “as soon as possible”.
On completion of investigation, they would submit a probe report along with other documents to the prosecution, who, after scrutinising those documents, would press charges against Ashraf.
A top official of the agency said last month they were conducting investigations against 10 other war crimes suspects in different localities across the country.