The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 on Wednesday set today to pronounce judgement of a case lodged over murder of Danbir Roy Bahadur Ranada Prasad Saha, alias RP Saha, and his son Bhabani Prasad Saha.
Justice Md Shahinur Islam, chairman of the three-member panel of the ICT-1, set the date through a short order this morning.
The ICT-1 on April 24 the verdict on CAV (curia advisari vult, a Latin legal term meaning the court awaits verdict) as both prosecution and the defence concluded their arguments on that day.
The prosecution on April 7 concluded their part of arguments in the case.
The ICT-1 on March 28, 2018, framed three charges of crimes against humanity against sole accused Md Mahbubur Rahman alias Mahbub of Tangail.
Mahbub, 69, was allegedly a Razakar (Pakistan’s collaborators) leader and carried out horrific crimes during the Liberation War along with his family and associates from Razakar Bahini in his locality.
According to the charge framing order, Mahbub is accused of carrying out attacks in different areas of Tangail and Narayanganj along with his father and local Peace Committee chief Wadud Moulana and brother, also a Razakar, Md Abdul Mannan.
With their assistance, Pakistani army gunned down 33 Hindus in Baimhati village, ancestral home of RP Saha, in Mirzapur, Tangail, on May 7, 1971.
On that same day, Mahbub along with his associates from Razakar Bahini and Pakistani army attacked RP Saha’s residence in Sirajdikhan Road area of Khanpur of Naryanganj town.
There, Mahbub and his associates detained five including RP Saha and his son Bhabani Prasad Saha. The Razakars tortured them and took them away for never to return.
On May 14, 1971, 50/60 armed Razakars including Mahbub launched an attack on Mirzapur, Andhara, Sarishadair, Durgapur, Kanthalia, Postakumari villages under the jurisdiction of Mirzapur police station Mirzapur of Tangail.
The Razakars detained 22 Hindus and tortured them. Later Mahbub brought Pakistani army men, who killed the detainees mercilessly.
Mahbub, who was arrested in another case, was shown arrested in under ICT Act of 1973 on November 7, 2017.
The prosecution submitted the formal charge against the lone accused on January 11, 2018.
Who is Rai Bahadur Ranada Prasad Shaha?
Ranada Prasad Shaha was born in 15 November 1896 at his maternal uncle's house at Kachhur in Savar, near Dhaka. Saha's father came from Mirzapur in Tangail subdivision in Mymensingh District. He was second child of Debendranath Podder and Kumudini Devi and have two brothers and one sister.
At the age of seven, he lost his mother and at the age of sixteen, he fled to Kolkata and initially worked as a day laborer, rickshaw-puller and hawker. Later at one stage he was involved in the nationalist movement or “swadeshi andolone”. He was in prison for few days because of this.
When the world war Ibegan, R P Shaha joined the army and was posted in the bengal ambulance corps. After finishing this tenure from various government sector he retired in 1932 from the Railway and started a business.
In 1938, R P Shaha set up a dispensary with outdoor facilities at his village home. On July 27, 1944 the then Governor of Bengal, Lord Richard G Casey inaugurated a 750 bed hospital in Mirzapur. This free hospital was named Kumudini Hospital. He established an impressive institution Bharateswari Homes for girls at Mirzapur. He also founded Kumudini Girls’ College at Tangail and Debendra College at Manikganj.
In July 1944 he donated an amount of Rs2,50,000 to the British Red Cross Appeal Fund. In the early fifties he financed construction of the Maternity Ward of Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka.
This great philanthropist's spirit lives among his successors who are on the Board of Directors of the Trust. R P Shaha was the first Managing Director succeeded by his daughter Joya Pati. His grandson Rajiv Prasad Shaha is the present Managing Director of the Trust.