Fugitive war criminal hid with family for six years: RAB

Montaj Ali Bepari alias Momtaj was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal in 2019 for crimes against humanity in Gaibandha

The Rapid Action Battalion says Montaj Ali Bepari alias Momtaj, a fugitive convicted of 1971 atrocities, was hiding at his son and son-in-law’s homes since 2016 before his arrest.

In a press conference on Sunday, the commanding officer of RAB-3, Lt Col Arif Mohiuddin Ahmed, said they picked up Montaj Ali from Chandra of Gazipur's Kaliakair.

According to the RAB officer, Montaj jumped bail in 2016, and since then, he has neither showed up for any case hearings nor asked for any extension of the bail.

A RAB investigation found that Montaj left his home after the International Crimes Tribunal in 2016 rejected his bail plea. He shuffled back and forth between Gazipur and Gaibandha, where his son-in-law lives, to dodge surveillance.

On Oct 15, 2019, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Montaj and four other members of the Razakar forces, wartime collaborators with the Pakistan Army, to death for crimes against humanity in Gaibandha.

The charges against them included abduction, murder, torture, looting, killing and forced emigration in 1971.

According to the verdict, all four charges levelled by the prosecution against the accused were proven beyond doubt. The defendants were sentenced to death on each charge.

Two of the convicts have died of old age already. With Montaj's arrest, the remaining three are in custody now, said Arif Mohiuddin Ahmed.