Verdict on 5 Kishoreganj ‘Razakars’ tomorrow

A tribunal in Dhaka will deliver the verdict tomorrow in a case against five Kishoreganj persons, accused of committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

The accused are Gazi Abdul Mannan, 88, alleged commander of a Razakar camp, Nasiruddin Ahmed, 62, his brother Shamsuddin Ahmed, 60, Hafiz Uddin, 66, and Azharul Islam, 60, all alleged Razakar members from Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj.

They are facing seven charges, including those of mass killing, murder, confinement, torture, arson and looting.

Of the accused, only Shamsuddin is now in jail, while the rest are on the run. The fugitives were tried in absentia.

The three-member panel of International Crimes Tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque set the date today, 20 days after the tribunal kept the case waiting for judgement.

The prosecution charged the five on May 10 last year and the tribunal indicted them on October 12 the same year.

The charges are killing of eight people and injuring of another of four villages on November 12; killing of Miah Hossain of Aila village on November 13; abduction and killing of Abdur Gafur of Kalatali on September 26; abduction, torture and killing of Fazlur Rahman of Atkapara on August 23; killing of Paresh Chandra Sarkar of Ramnagar on September 7; torture and killing of Abu Bakar Siddique and Rapali Miah on August 25, and arson and vandalism in Atkapara on September 15.

The prosecution produced 25 witnesses, including the investigation officer, but the defence declined to produce anyone.