Former RAB Commander Testifies Against Ziaul Ahsan Over Alleged Killings
Former RAB-3 commander Rafiqul Islam has testified before International Crimes Tribunal-1, describing an alleged operation in July 2011 in which he said then-RAB intelligence director Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan ordered the killing of several individuals.
Rafiqul, currently serving as a deputy director of the Sena Kalyan Sangstha, appeared as the seventh prosecution witness in the case against Ziaul Ahsan on August 10. He told the tribunal that Ziaul had instructed him to prepare his officers for a counterterrorism operation but refused to provide any details, telling him that he simply had to follow orders.
According to the witness, he and three other RAB officers later travelled in a four-vehicle convoy with Ziaul Ahsan. After travelling for about 40 minutes, the convoy stopped on a bridge. Rafiqul testified that a man whose hands and face were bound was brought out of a vehicle and that Ziaul allegedly shot him before the man was thrown into the water.
Rafiqul further testified that the convoy subsequently stopped at several other locations. At one location, Ziaul allegedly ordered Major Sazzadul to carry out another operation. When Sazzadul questioned the order and refused, Rafiqul said Ziaul abused him and told him he would deal with the matter separately. The witness then heard a gunshot.
He also testified that at another location he saw two more individuals, with their hands and eyes bound, being taken away. He subsequently heard another gunshot. According to Rafiqul, Major Tariqul later told him that Ziaul had ordered him to kill a person but that he had refused; Tariqul allegedly said that two other men accompanying Ziaul had subsequently killed the person.
Rafiqul said that he learned several days later from newspaper reports that the bodies of two or three people had been recovered in the Joydebpur area of Gazipur.
The defence subsequently cross-examined Rafiqul. Prosecutor Shyikh Mahdi conducted the prosecution’s submissions, assisted by Prosecutors Tasmirul Islam, Abdus Sattar Palowan and Moinul Karim, among others.
The testimony forms part of the prosecution’s case alleging a pattern of enforced disappearances and killings involving senior officials of the security forces during the previous government.
Relevant News Reports in this regard are as follows:
Prothom Alo – https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/mvj130zdr9
Dhaka Post – https://www.dhakapost.com/law-courts/473918
Dhaka Mail – https://dhakamail.com/law-courts/321891