Captain Akram Ahmed, a Liberation War veteran, dies

Captain Akram Ahmed, Bir Uttam, a Liberation War hero, has died in hospital care after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

One of a handful of civilians to have been conferred on Bir Uttam gallantry award, he passed away at Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital at 11am Monday, according to a statement by Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee.

Akram was one of the nine pilots who joined the "Kilo Flight" that wreaked havoc inside enemy territory during Bangladesh's bloody war of independence in 1971.

On the night of 3 December, Squadron Leader Shamsul Alam and Captain Akram Ahmed attacked the Eastern Refinery in Chattogram and destroyed the oil depot. The simultaneous attack in Chattogram and Dhaka by the valiant "Akash Shainik" marked the declaration of the battle against Pakistan occupation forces in conjunction with the Indian military.

After the war he joined as a cockpit pilot of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, flying the Dakota DC-3. Later. he flew the F-27, Boeing 707, and formally retired from DC-10.

Captain Akram was also involved in the movement for the trial of war criminals and the banning of radical communal politics led by Jahanara Imam from the very beginning.

In a message of condolence, the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee mourned the loss of a great warrior in the Liberation War. "With his sudden death, we have lost a fearless comrade-in-arms who was like a guardian."

"The void created by the untimely death of our comrade, freedom fighter Captain Akram Ahmed, Bir Uttam in the civic movement against fundamentalism and communalism will not be easily filled.”

He will be buried at the Banani graveyard after te Zuhr prayers with a formal guard of honour by Bangladesh Air Force on Tuesday.