Mozammel Haque Sharif, brother of martyr Freedom Fighter (FF) Motaleb Sharif, on Tuesday testified in the trial of engineer Abdul Jabbar at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1, blaming the fugitive former Jatiya Party MP for ordering the killing of his brother and burning his body.
Sharif, 63, a farmer by profession, in his testimony as 8th prosecution witness (PW) described how Jabbar, from a public gathering in Tushkhali High School field on May 16, 1971, ordered his cohorts to bring Motaleb and fellow FF Abdur Razzak Biswas in front him dead or alive.
“Following the order, local Razakars and members of Muslim League surrounded our house at village Fulchhari under Mathbaria upazila of Pirojpur that afternoon. As my brother tried to flee the scene, they shot and killed him. They captured Razzak and shot at him. He died three days later. We could not bury my brother as the locals were in hiding in fear of their lives. His body was kept at the balcony of our home,” he said.
“The next day Razakars led by Jabbar again raided our village. They shot and killed one Sharoda Paik. They looted our house and set it on fire. My brother’s body, which was kept on the balcony, also got burnt. They looted and burnt around 360 houses in our village on that single day,” Sharif added.
Sharif also said he and another of his brother Sattar Sharif returned to their house on that afternoon as the Razakars left and buried the charred body of Motaleb.
After his deposition, advocate Mohammad Abul Hasan, state-appointed defence counsel for Jabbar, asked him a question to conclude the deposition officially and the tribunal then adjourned the hearing till tomorrow.
The ICT-1 on August 14 indicted Jabbar, allegedly the chairman of Mathbaria unit of Peace Committee in Pirojpur during the War of Liberation, framing five charges of crimes against humanity against him.
