Major Mozzafar arrested in crimes against humanity charges, faces two-day interrogation

The tribunal also orders the him to be kept in military custody

The International Crimes Tribunal has ordered former army major Mozzafar Hossain to be shown arrested in the crimes against humanity case in which retired lieutenant general Masud Uddin Chowdhury is already in jail.

The three-member ICT-2, led by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, on Thursday also placed Mozzafar on a two-day remand and ordered that he remain in military custody.

The tribunal set Sept 23 as the deadline for the submission of the probe report.

Masud, a prominent army officer during the former military-controlled caretaker government, was arrested on Mar 23.

Initially remanded in cases over embezzlement and human trafficking, he was later shown arrested in May in a crimes against humanity case over killings in Feni during the July Uprising. He is a former MP from Feni-3.

Mozaffar, a figure widely discussed in connection with the assassination of former president Ziaur Rahman, was arrested at a house in Banani DOHS on Jul 15 before being handed over to the army.

He had been on the run since the assassination of Ziaur Rahman during a military coup in Chattogram on May 30, 1981.

Named as a suspect in the Kotwali Police case, the FIR said he was standing beside the president during the killing.

The CID submitted a final report in 2001, admitting it had failed to solve the case.

Aminul said investigators traced Mozaffar while probing Masud through the latter's former personal assistant's call records, where a man identified only as "Jandu" emerged.

"Our investigators found that Jandu was actually Major Mozaffar Hossain."

He claimed Masud and Mozaffar had remained in contact for 16 years and that investigators found evidence linking both men during the period of the alleged crimes against humanity.