Victims of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s war-time terror, freedom fighters and social workers have expressed satisfaction over the execution of the notorious war criminal early yesterday.
They also urged the government to turn the city’s Goods Hill residence of Salauddin that had been used as a torture cell into a museum.
Lauding the government’s resolve to try the war criminals, they demanded speedy trial of the rest of the persons charged for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
“We had to wait for an agonising four long decades for the trial of the war criminal. Now we are delighted as justice has been delivered. The departed soul of my father will now rest in peace,” said Prafulla Ranjan Singha, son of Nutan Chandra Singha killed on April 13, 1971. Prafulla testified against Salauddin at the International Crimes Tribunal on June 20, 2012.
The war criminal was given death sentence on the charge of killing Nutan Chandra, the founder of Kundeshwari Oushadhalay at Gohira in Raozan.
Freedom fighter Kazi Nurul Absar, a witness of the case against Salauddin, said: “The carnage wrought by Salauddin Quader and his men haunts us even after four decades of the Liberation War.”
Muktijoddha Sangsad district unit chief Mohammad Shahabuddin said: “Finally, Chittagong has got rid of the stigma with his execution.”
The Chittagong chapter of Gonojagoron Moncho and Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Goshthi also hailed the execution of the war criminal.
“Justice has been delivered with the execution of Salauddin’s death sentence. This notorious person should have been hanged much before,” said Begum Mushtari Shafi, a noted writer and wife of a martyred physician.
Different pro-liberation political and socio-cultural organisations brought out processions and distributed sweets celebrating the execution of Salauddin and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid.
Chittagong city unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Raozan upazila unit of the Awami League brought out processions yesterday.
Earlier in the day, Salauddin, a Standing Committee member of the BNP, was buried at his village home Gohira under tight security.