Qaisar founded killing squad in 1971

  Syed Mohammad Qaisar, a war crimes accused, was “very close” to the Pakistani army officers and formed a “killing squad” named the “Qaisar Bahini” in Habiganj that committed numerous crimes, including genocide, during the Liberation War in 1971, the prosecution said on the second day of their closing arguments yesterday.
Qaisar also played a pivotal role in forming the Peace Committee in Habiganj and Brahmanbaria and was a commander of the Razakar Bahini there in 1971, they told the International Crimes Triabunal-2, citing testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and documentary evidence.
Prosecutor Rana Dasgupta said 19 prosecution witnesses, out of the total 32, gave “clear descriptions” about the identity of Qaisar and his role during the war.
From the witnesses' testimonies, it became very much evident that Qaisar had his private force, Qaisar Bahini, with a special uniform, he said. The prosecutor also cited an English book titled “Associates of Pakistani Army 71” to shed light on Qaisar's war-time role.
Compiled and edited by ASM Shamsul Arefin, the book reads, “He [Qaisar] organised a killer squad in Habiganj named Kaisar Bahini. He was very close to Pakistani army officers in Habiganj.”
“One pistol was presented to him [Qaisar] by the local army commander on his good performance,” it goes on. “At the end of the November or early December, he left Bangladesh for London. He came back to Bangladesh after 1978.”
The prosecutor also cited several other books and newspaper reports to establish their arguments.
At one stage, the tribunal expressed dissatisfaction over the prosecution for some anomalies, like disorders in pagination or missing pages, in their documents. Rana then said the prosecution office was running short of papers, so they had to give some brief documents.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan adjourned the proceeding till August 4.
Qaisar, a state minister during HM Ershad's regime, faces 16 charges of crimes, including genocide, committed in Habiganj and Brahmanbaria in 1971. He denies all.