Arrest 11 Jessore Razakar suspects

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday issued arrest warrants for 11 alleged Razakars of Jessore on charges of committing crimes during the Liberation War in 1971.

All 11 hail from Keshabpur upazila, and they were allegedly involved in rape and killing in the district, Prosecutor Rezia Sultana Chaman told The Daily Star.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

She said, "We prayed to the tribunal to issue arrest orders for the sake of a fair investigation." 

In the petition, the prosecution said that while investigating the war crimes allegations against former BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Sakhawat Hossain in Jessore, the investigation officer found involvement of the 11 suspects in several crimes.

The 11 were "associates of Sakhawat Hossain" and also members of Razakar Bahini, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army in 1971, said the investigator Abdur Razzaque Khan.

The suspects are Ibrahim Hossain, Billal Hossain, Sheikh Majibur Rahman, Abdul Aziz Sardar, Aziz Sarder, Kazi Oahidul Islam, Lutfar Moral, Abdul Khaleq Moral, Akram Hossain, Ozehar Moral, and Mushiar Rahman. 

Police on November 29 last year arrested Sakhawat, 70, former MP of Jessore-6 (Keshabpur) constituency and now a Jatiya Party leader. He is now in jail. 

The investigator said he so far got five allegations against Sakhawat and names of the 11 suspects came up from the statements of witnesses.

Earlier, the three-member tribunal led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim had asked the prosecution to submit either formal charges or a progress report on May 17 into the investigation against Sakhawat, said Prosecutor Rezia.