Amal Krishna Roy, a farmer from village Krishnapur under Lakhai Police Station of Habiganj on Sunday testified before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1, narrating the gruesome crimes allegedly committed by local Razakar Liakat Ali, Al Badr man Razab Ali and their cohorts in 1971.
“Liakat, Razab and their partners in crimes including Pakistani army men raided our village and adjacent areas on 2nd Ashwin (Bengali month) 1971. They detained 50 to 52 Hindus from our village and shot them after making them to stand in three rows. I saw 43 dead bodies including of my brother-in-law Haricharan Roy behind the house of one Nripen Chandra Roy,” said the 76-year-old witness.
Roy, who appeared as the fourth prosecution witness, said the accused and their men carried out similar crimes on that very day in neighboring villages of Chandripur, Godainagar and Ganganagar.
“They shot and killed nine people in the house of Danu Shukla Boidya in village Chandripur and killed many people in the house of Chitta Das in village of Godainagar. They also gunned down eight people in village Ganganagar under Nasirnagar Police Station in Brahmanbaria,” the witness added.
Roy, 76, submitted his one and a half hours long deposition before the two-member tribunal and was cross-examined by the defence afterwards. The tribunal later adjourned the hearing of the trial till March 13.
The tribunal is holding the trial in absence of both the accused as Md Liakat Ali and Aminul Islam alias Razab Ali alias KM Aminul Haque alias Md Aminul Haque Talukder are yet to be arrested.
The first tribunal on November 1, 2016, indicted the duo, framing seven charges of crimes against humanity against them.
According to the prosecution, Liakat was the commander of local Razakar Bahini and carried out mayhem in Habiganj, Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria in 1971.
Razab, on the other hand was the president of Bhairab unit of Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1970 and formed Al-Badr Bahini in Ashtogram area of Kishoreganj as the war unfolded.
