Extrajudicial killings: Ex-Rab men give chilling accounts of Ziaul’s role

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances with the support of the cultural ministry produced a documentary titled "Unfolding the Truth" in which former Rab officers directly implicated Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan.

Ziaul Ahsan, now behind bars, led Rab's intelligence wing as its additional director general (operations) and served as the director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre until August 5, 2024.

Nur Khan Liton, a commission member, in the documentary said, "There is an army camp at the foot of that bridge. A trawler had been brought there from the Sundarbans… the boat recovered from the bandits was brought by General Ziaul Ahsan's team. And later we learned that, under General Ziaul Ahsan's direct supervision, many people were taken there in the dead of night. The people who were about to be killed were called packets, or roosters or subjects."

Anonymised testimonies of former Rab officers were released in the government-produced documentary.

An officer said, "They would not tell us where the destination is. They would reach a spot and say 'slow down'. When they said slow down, that's when we realised the process would start."

He said they would then bring the victims out of the hull opening a hatch and tie sacks of cement to their knees.

"After tying, they place the sack right near the feet. The second man hands over the pillow. Using that pillow [to dampen the gunshot sound], he [Ziaul Ahsan] takes the shot," said the former officer.

"Sir's preferred target is the head … he fires one round, or sometimes two. The need for the second round arises only when he [Ziaul Ahsan] feels someone's [shooter's] hand had trembled. Then he would say, 'second shot'," the officer said.

Another former officer then showed a photo of a trawler. He said that the victims used to be kept in the hull to hide them from the boatmen.

Another former officer, an eyewitness, said, "Zia shot the victim. I don't remember if Zia himself threw the body overboard or if someone else with Zia did it. But the body was shot and thrown."

Another officer told the commission that the victims were killed with lethal injections. He said, "Sir [Ziaul Ahsan] himself used to push the injection."