A new prosecution witness (PW) on Monday testified against ATM Azharul Islam, assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, describing his horrific crimes during the War of Liberation.
Mujibur Rahman Master, a valiant Freedom Fighter from Badarganj upazila of Rangpur, testified as the PW-8 at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1.
“Azhar along with his accomplices from Razakar and Al-Badr with the help from their Pakistani masters took part in the killings of more than 12 hundred people in different areas of Rangpur. Azhar was also involved in the abduction, torture and killings of many women in Rangpur Town Hall,” the witness said. Corroborating the depositions of earlier PWs, Mujibur too described how Azhar and other leaders from Jamaat guided the Pakistani troops on April 17, 1971, to different villages of Rangpur and subsequently carried out the Jharuarbil massacre, where more than 12 hundred people were murdered.
After his deposition, Advocate Abdus Sobhan Tarafder, counsel for Azhar, cross-examined him for some time, after that the tribunal adjourned the hearing till tomorrow leaving it quizzing incomplete.
The first tribunal on November 12, 2013, indicted Azhar on 6 charges of crimes against humanity.
Hailed from Batason Lohanipara under Badarganj upazilla of Rangpur, Azhar was arrested from his Moghbazar home in the capital on August 23, 2012 and produced before the tribunal three days later. He has been in jail since then.
