Published : 23 Aug 2026, 10:24 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:35 AM
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has denied bail to Bangladesh Air Force Wing Commander Saifur Rahman and sent him to jail in a crimes against humanity case over the enforced disappearance of BNP leader Ilias Ali.
A two-member panel of Tribunal-1, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, passed the order on Sunday and set Oct 25 for submission of the investigation report.
Saifur was brought to the tribunal shortly before 9am in an Air Force microbus. Tribunal-1 had issued an arrest warrant for him on Aug 9 following a prosecution request.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam asked the court to formally arrest Saifur in the case and send him to jail, while defence lawyer Tabarak Hossain sought bail.
Tabarak argued that Saifur, commissioned into the Air Force in 2003, had no previous allegations against him and had appeared before the tribunal rather than trying to evade the law.
He said that Saifur would cooperate with investigators whenever required and asked that he be granted bail while remaining in Air Force custody.
Opposing the petition, Aminul said investigators had received several allegations against Saifur and had sufficient evidence linking him to the case.
He also said information had emerged about Saifur’s alleged involvement in killings beyond the disappearance of Ilias.
After hearing both sides, the tribunal rejected the bail request, recorded Saifur's arrest in the case and ordered him to jail.
Saifur’s name first surfaced in the case on Jun 21 during testimony by Army Warrant Officer Imrul Kayes in proceedings concerning more than 100 alleged incidents of enforced disappearance and killing.
He was mentioned in connection with the disappearance and alleged killing of Ilias Ali.
Subsequently, on Jul 26, the Special Military Police Branch (Provost) detained Saifur from his residence and placed him in the custody of a special cell of the military.
Ilias, then a BNP organising secretary, and his driver were picked up from Dhaka’s Banani area late on Apr 17, 2012. They have not been seen since.
BNP leaders have alleged that Ilias was forcibly disappeared on the orders of individuals associated with the government at the time. According to the prosecution, the intelligence wing of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was directly involved in the incident.
At the time of Ilias’s disappearance, Saifur, then a Squadron Leader in the Air Force, was serving in RAB’s intelligence wing.
Most recently, Saifur was serving as deputy director of the Directorate of Air Training at the Air Force Headquarters.
Chief Prosecutor Aminul said on Aug 9 that preliminary investigations and witness testimony had produced evidence of Saifur’s direct involvement in the alleged abduction of Ilias. Investigations are also under way into the roles of others allegedly involved in the incident, including retired lieutenant general Sheikh Mamun Khaled.
Most recently, he was serving as deputy director of the Directorate of Air Training at Air Force Headquarters.
