War crimes evidence against Jabbar found: Investigators
War crimes evidence against Jabbar found: Investigators
Investigators today said that they had found evidence of former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Jabbar’s involvement in at least five crimes against humanity during the country's 1971 War of Liberation.
The offences include murder, genocide, loot and arson, Mohammad Abdul Hannan Khan, chief of the investigation agency probing war crimes, told reporters at a press briefing at his Dhanmondi office.
Sanaul Haque, a senior member of the agency, also attended the briefing.
The agency will submit the probe report to the prosecution of the International Crimes Tribunal today or tomorrow, the investigators said on completion of their nearly one-year-long investigation on the role of the 82-year-old Jatiya Party leader during the country’s war of independence.
Besides genocide and murders that claimed the lives of 36 people, Jabbar was “involved” in forcefully converting 200 Hindus to Islam and looting and burning 557 houses in Mathbaria upazila of Pirojpur, according to the probe agency.
Upon getting allegations, the agency on May 19, 2013, started its investigation against twice lawmaker Jabbar, son of late Chaden Ali of Khetacira in Mathbaria upazila.
The investigators said Jabbar, as the chairman of Mathbaria Peace Committee, had “played a key role” in the formation of the Razakar Bhahini and had “led the force” in committing crimes in Mathbaria during the nine-month-long Liberation War.
The Peace Committee and Razakar Bahini were two anti-liberation forces that had collaborated with the Pakistani army.
Jabbar was elected lawmaker from Mathbaria in 1986 and 1988 with Jatiya Party ticket but later he became inactive in politics. There has been no trace of him since 2009.