Two abducted by them were never found

The 18th witness in a war crimes case yesterday testified that a fellow freedom fighter and a villager had never been found after being abducted by the five accused and other eight to 10 alleged Razakars from Kishoreganj's Karimganj upazila during the 1971 Liberation War.

Gazi Abdul Mannan, 88, was the alleged commander of Karimganj Razakar camp while its members were Nasiruddin Ahmed, 62, his brother Shamsuddin Ahmed, 60, Hafiz Uddin, 66, and Azharul Islam, 60.

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Only Shamsuddin is now in jail while the rest on the run. He pleads not guilty to the seven charges they face.

Kazi Ruhul Amin, 65, identified Shamsuddin at the dock and told International Crimes Tribunal-1 that he knew the five since they went to a local market of Karimganj.

He said he and his friend Abu Bakar Siddique were "involved in the politics of Awami League's student organisation" and the latter had trained for the Liberation War in India.

"We could not stay home," he said, while informing that a Peace Committee had provided the Razakar Bahini, another auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army, a list of Liberation War supporters, including him and Bakar.

Ruhul said as an alternative, they used to live in the house of a financially insolvent neighbour, Abdul Hamid, and the five along with the other armed Razakars had entered the village on the morning of August 25, 1971 looking for them.

That morning, before going for Fazr prayers, Bakar had suggested that Ruhul leave the house, he said, adding that four to five minutes after Bakar left, he heard screams and hid in a bush.

Ruhul said he saw the Razakars take Bakar, whose hands were tied behind his back, and Rupali some 100 feet away from Hamid's house and tie them to a jackfruit tree and later take them away.

He said he also went for the training and took part in the Liberation War before returning after victory was achieved. Villagers informed him that Bakar and Rupali were never found, he added. Proceedings were adjourned until December 20.