War crimes verdict for two Bagerhat ‘Razakars’ on Aug 11

The war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict for two ‘Razakars’ of Bagerhat next week, since the third has recently died of old age complications.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has scheduled the verdict for Aug 11.

The men are Sheikh Sirajul Haque aka ‘Siraj Master’, Khan Akram Hossain and Abdul Latif Talukder.

Talukder, 75, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Jul 27.

The court, on Wednesday, stopped proceedings against him.

They were indicted on seven charges, including torture, abduction, murders, and mass killings of unarmed civilians during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

Chairperson of ICT-1, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, had kept the verdict ‘awaiting’ after arguments ended on June 23.

The long-awaited judgments of 1971 war criminals began with the formation of Bangladesh’s first International Crimes Tribunal on Mar 25, 2010.

Their trial began in November last year. The case’s investigator Helal Uddin and 31 others have testified against the Bagerhat men.

The defence produced five witnesses. Prosecutor Syedul Haque started argument on Jun 15 but court stopped the proceedings after Talukder fell ill.

A case filed in 2009 had accused 12 including ‘Siraj Master’ of six crimes including the massacre of 42 people, rape and torching of homes at Shankhari Bazar in Bagerhat’s Kachua during the war.

Nimai Chadra Das, son of Jitendra Nath Das who was killed in the massacre, filed the case at Kachua Police Station.

The case was later transferred to the tribunal.

As the war began, Siraj Master, Khan Akram and Talukder joined the ‘Razakars’, the vigilante militia group, to assist the invading Pakistani Army against liberation seekers.

They were trained by the Pakistanis at Khulna’s Ansar Camp, said the prosecution’s investigation agency.

From them, they collected weapons and ammunition to begin murders, mass killings, rape, pillage, and forced conversion of Hindus in different parts of Bagerhat with other Razakars.

The tribunal issued arrest warrants for the three on Jun 10 and Kachua Police arrested Talukder the next day.

Khan Akram Hossain  was arrested in Rajshahi on Jul 19 and Siraj Master on Jul 20.