War crimes accused Sirajul Huq alias Siraj Master was also known as “Siraj Kosai” in Bagerhat during the 1971 Liberation War for the brutal acts he had committed against unarmed civilians, mostly Hindus.
Locals labelled him as “Kosai” or butcher since the accused used to slaughter people, after his fellows had shot them, to confirm their death.
Siraj, the deputy commander of district unit razakar force – auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation forces, was allegedly involved in the killings of over 800 people in the district. He was also behind the “Dakara Genocide” in Rampal where over 600 Hindus had been killed in a day.
The war crimes suspect was also a key associate of deceased war crimes accused AKM Yusuf, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader who had founded the notorious razakar force in Khulna division during the war. Yusuf died in custody when the case against him was in the final stage at the tribunal.
Siraj was arrested on Monday night from his uncle’s abandoned house at Dema village under Bagerhat sadar area. The arrest has been made more than a month after the International Crimes Tribunal 1 had issued arrest warrant against him and two other suspects in a war crimes case.
The two other accused – Abdul Latif Talukder and Akram Hossain Khan – have already been arrested and sent to jail.
The investigation officer said they had come to know about Siraj from local people while investigating the allegations against Yusuf.
The probe report against them would be submitted soon, officials said. The tribunal earlier set August 20 to submit a progress report on the investigation. The arrest warrants were issued on June 10.
In 2009, war victim Nimai Chandra Das from Raghuduttakathi village of Bagerhat sadat filed a case against some 20-30 men including the trio with a Bagerhat court. The case was later transferred to the tribunal 1.
Mohammad Helal Uddin, investigation officer of the case, confirmed the arrest and said: “The Bagerhat court is likely to send the war crimes suspect to the tribunal as the latter issued arrest warrant against him.”
The IO visited the crime scenes on May 26-28 this year and recorded statements of witnesses. Following this, the probe team confirmed Siraj’s involvement in atrocities including the killing of over 800 unarmed civilians at Kochua, Rampal and areas under Bagerhat sadar.
IO Helal Uddin said Siraj Kosai along with the two other accused of the case had gone to Kochua on May 5, 1971 and carried out atrocities there. They looted houses and set those on fire after killing 42 Hindus.
The probe body accuses Siraj and his men of being responsible for the “Dakara Genocide” of May 21, 1971 when over 600 Hindus were killed in the village under Rampal upazila. After killing them with a gun, Siraj had slaughtered them to ensure death.
The razakar leader was also involved in the killing of 42 Hindus at Shakharikatthi, 19 at Kandapara, seven at Chulkathi and 63 others at Ranjitpur by gunshot. These victims too were slaughtered by the war crimes accused.