Army officer recounts role of Ziaul Ahsan in Ilias Ali disappearance case

In his testimony as an accomplice witness, Imrul Kayes, now a serving military officer, detailed the alleged killing and disappearance of around 150 to 200 people under the orders of retired Major General Ziaul, including killings and disposal of bodies.

The witness, who testified on Sunday in the presence of Ziaul Ahsan, identified himself as his former “runner”.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1, headed by Justice Md. Shafiul Alam Mahmood recorded the testimony. The other member of the tribunal is Justice Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

Earlier on January 4, the prosecution completed its hearing on framing charges against Ziaul Ahsan in a crimes against humanity case, outlining over 100 incidents of enforced disappearances and killings under three specific allegations.

The first charge involves the killing of three people, including Sajal, in Pubail, Gazipur in 2011. The second relates to the killing of 50 people at the Char Duani canal estuary in Barguna. The third alleges the killing of another 50 people during so-called anti-bandit operations in the Sundarbans.

On December 17, the tribunal took cognisance of these three charges.

Testimony on Ilias Ali disappearance

In his testimony, the army member described his joining and his experiences while working as Ziaul Ahsan's "runner."

At one point in his sequential account, the topic of BNP leader Ilias Ali's disappearance came up.

Imrul said: "Around April 13, 2012, we went from RAB headquarters in a microbus near the Mohakhali flyover — myself, Zia sir, Major Nowshad sir, and Squadron Leader Saif sir. I didn't know who was going to be picked up in the car. Zia sir was sitting in the car making calls to various places, trying to find out when the 'target' would arrive. At one point, it became known that the 'target' would not be coming."

Afterward, they dropped Zia off at his residence, and the next morning, Imrul claims he went on nine days' leave.

"While on leave, I learned through the media that a BNP leader named Ilias Ali had been abducted from near the Mohakhali overbridge. After my nine-day leave ended, I rejoined my workplace on April 23. After joining, I noticed a tense atmosphere at RAB headquarters."

Regarding the destruction of evidence, he said: "I learned from other members that Zia sir destroyed the weapons' in-out register and the CCTV footage. Normally, the 'fall in' [roll call/attendance check] would happen at 9am. But from April 18, the fall-in started happening at 7am, and Zia sir came for the fall-in several days in a row."

The accomplice witness said that one day Zia was talking to someone on the phone.

"At that time another call came in on sir's phone, and sir said — you hang up, Tareq sir is calling. Zia sir started talking to Tareq sir. I don't know what was said on the other end, but Zia sir was speaking in a complaining tone, saying — sir, as you all instructed, I 'golfed' Ilias, now if you all do this, it would be better for me — I'm a commando, just post me to the jungle, that would be better for me."

Regarding the first disposal of a body, he claimed: "About 20-25 days after joining as a runner, around midnight or 12:30am, sir called me and said — where are you? I said — I'm in the line [on duty]. Sir then told me to go in front of RAB-1 [office]. When I went there, I saw two black Hiace microbuses standing. Sir told me to get into one of the microbuses. I got into that vehicle. Zia sir was sitting in that car.

"After I got in, sir told me there was a sack in the back that needed to be thrown away. In that car were RAB-1's CO Rashed sir and Captain Kawsar sir. There were two others I didn't recognize."

Imrul said that around 12:45am, they left from there, went via Jasimuddin Road (Uttara) toward Tongi, over the Ahsan Ullah overbridge, and turned right a short distance to a railway crossing.

Describing trees on both sides of the road, he claimed their vehicles stopped there and a body was dumped.

He said: "Then Zia sir told me, Imrul, open the dickey, take out the sack. I opened the dickey and reached in to take out what I thought was a sack, but found it wasn't a sack — it was a dead body, and it was cold."

He described carrying the body to where Ziaul was standing near the railway line, leaving it there, and returning to the car: "Then I saw Zia sir and the others there, placed the body on the railway track and returned to the car. Shortly after, a train came and passed. Then we left from there."

Regarding a staged operation in the Sundarbans, he said: "I went on Sundarbans operations with Ziaul Ahsan sir several times. I remember one particular operation. We went to the operation site by boat. There was low tide at the time. RAB-8 members were also with us. After our boat stopped, we heard two or three rounds of gunfire from inside the forest. When we were ordered to open fire, we — RAB Intelligence members and RAB-8 members — fired."

He said that at one point an order was given to stop firing: "Ziaul Ahsan sir, RAB's ADG (Ops) Mujib sir, Commander Sohail sir, and media members were present there.

"We went further into the forest and saw two or three bodies lying there, riddled with bullets."

Describing the scene, he claimed: "This operation seemed to me to be a staged operation."

Regarding the killing of BDR members, the accomplice witness said: "After the BDR massacre, an operation called 'Operation Rebel Hunt' was conducted across the country to catch fugitive BDR members. At that time, Ziaul Ahsan sir killed 8-10 people. Zia sir said the people killed were BDR members who had killed our officers."

Describing the method of killing, he said: "These people were killed in two ways. One was by injection, and the other was near the army camp by Postogola Bridge — they would be taken through the camp to the river, tied with cement-filled sacks, taken by boat, and thrown into the river.

"Before throwing the person to be killed into the river, a sack would be placed beneath them, another cement-filled sack placed on top, and both tied together with rope. Then they would be shot in the head and thrown into the river."

Describing a staged "crossfire" in Uttara, he said: "Toward the end of Ramadan in 2011, I was on duty. One day, just before iftar, Ahsan sir called and told me to bring a camera and come to Uttara North Tower. When I got there, I couldn't find sir.

"A little later, Zia sir called and told me to go a bit further ahead. I couldn't break my fast that day. Going ahead from North Tower, I saw four people who had been killed in a 'crossfire,' allegedly, people who had been preparing to commit robbery. This operation was staged."

Describing the killing of 11 people together at Postogola, he said: "In early 2012, we went with 11 accused persons in three microbuses, under Zia sir's leadership, to the army camp at Postogola. The 11 accused were put onto a boat there. When Zia sir called me over, I saw that this was the same boat that pirates had used in the Sundarbans operation."

He claimed that one of the accused suddenly jumped into the water: "Zia sir told me — Imrul, catch him, catch him. On sir's order, I jumped into the water and caught the accused. I and the accused were pulled onto the boat with a rope. It was dark at the time. I couldn't recognize the accused, but he appeared to be around 25-26 years old.

"The boat was taken to the middle of the river, and as before, all 11 were killed and thrown into the water."

He claimed that Ziaul Ahsan, Major Nowshad, Squadron Leader Saif, Commander Sohail, and ADG (Ops) Mujib were present during that operation.

Regarding handover and killing at the Jaflong border, Imrul said: "In mid-2012, we took two accused from RAB-1's TFI cell and went, under Zia sir's leadership, to the Jaflong border. Both accused had their hands tied and hoods placed over their heads. We arrived there around 2 or 2:30 a.m.

"There, four or five people in plain clothes came from the Indian side and handed over two people to us. We handed over the two we had to them."

The former "runner" of Ziaul Ahsan described the two people handed over from the Indian side being later killed at two separate locations on the road. He claimed Ziaul Ahsan killed both of them.

Describing another shooting, Imrul said: "Two accused were taken from RAB-4's 'safe house' in two microbuses. After driving for about half an hour, the vehicle stopped at a three-way intersection."

In response to a question from the tribunal, the witness said: "Both vehicles stopped. One of the accused was taken out of the vehicle I was in. I was standing beside the car.

"Ziaul Ahsan sir took that accused, put a pistol to his head, and shot and killed him. Because the accused had a lot of hair on his head, his head caught fire [from the gunshot]. Seeing this, everyone present was laughing."

He said the accused's hands and eyes had been bound with a gamcha (cotton towel). After the killing, on Zia's orders, the gamchas were removed and brought back to the car.

He said Ziaul Ahsan then told them to take the car back to RAB-4 headquarters while he left with the other accused: "When Zia sir returned to RAB-4, that accused was not with him. Sir would sometimes carry out certain operations without my knowledge. He would only bring me along for the ones he deemed necessary."

Describing a killing at Kanchpur Bridge, he said: "Ziaul Ahsan sir called me and said — there's a microbus in front of RAB-1, go get in it. I followed sir's order, got into the car, and saw Major Nowshad sir sitting there. Two accused — later referred to as 'targets' — were sitting inside the car with hoods on.

"A little later, Ziaul Ahsan sir got out of a private car on the other side of the road, crossed the street, and got into our car. We set off, went through Tongi, over the Ahsan Ullah Master flyover, and stopped on the Kanchpur Bridge. Then Zia sir told me — Imrul, get out. Following sir's order, I stood beside the car to keep guard."

Imrul said: "Then Zia sir took one 'target' out of the car, put a pistol to his head, fired two shots in succession, and when throwing him off the bridge, removed his lungi [sarong]."

He claimed that from where he was standing, he could see the person fall into the river: "Then, in the same way, Major Nowshad sir shot and killed the next target, removed his lungi, and threw him into the water."

Claiming that killings were also carried out in Barisal, Ziaul Ahsan's former "runner" said: "I went to Barisal with Ziaul Ahsan sir several times, and with the help of RAB-8, we went from Chardhuani Bazar in Pathorghata into the Boleshwar River, to the mouth of the sea, where sometimes two, sometimes three, sometimes four 'targets' were killed in the same manner as before — tied with cement sacks, shot, and the bodies thrown into the water.

"Before tying the bodies with sacks and throwing them into the water, the targets' stomachs would be slit open with a commando knife."

He said: "During the roughly one year and three or four months I spent with Ziaul Ahsan sir as a bodyguard or runner, I observed that he disappeared the accused in various ways. He killed people brought from RAB-1's TFI cell through different methods, including shooting and injection."

Apart from the previously described incidents, the witness claimed that another 10-12 people were killed by injection: "This injection process sometimes took place inside the TFI cell and sometimes in the car."

Imrul Kayes began crying toward the end of his testimony.

At this point he said: "As a runner, I witnessed him kill 150 to 200 people through various methods during that period."

Noting that he had been questioned multiple times by the investigating officer, he said: "I currently serve as a warrant officer at Rangpur Cantonment. I have given my testimony, and now I want security. This is my statement."

After the witness's testimony, at a briefing, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, Md Aminul Islam, explained the meaning of the term "golf" used in connection with Ilias Ali's disappearance: "They used this word 'golf' symbolically. 'Golf' means throwing someone into a pit."

On the destruction of evidence after Ilias Ali's abduction, he said: "Ziaul Ahsan destroyed all the video footage from RAB headquarters, so that this evidence would not remain. To destroy the evidence, Ziaul Ahsan made the in-and-out register and all the footage disappear.

"It became clear that his killing-mission network extended across both Bangladesh and India."

On Ziaul Ahsan's reaction in court, Aminul Islam said: "Ziaul Ahsan was present in court and heard all this testimony. And the whole time he was listening, he was smiling — grinning broadly. He seemed to be enjoying it as the witness described his misdeeds; he showed no sign of remorse."

Asked why the accomplice witness Imrul Kayes was not himself made an accused, the chief prosecutor said: "In all these incidents, his role was that he disposed of the victims' bodies on Ziaul Ahsan's orders. That is why we presented him before the tribunal as an 'accomplice witness.'

"If we hadn't had this witness today, who would have given today's account of events?"

Ziaul Ahsan, who was commissioned into the army in 1991, joined RAB in 2009. He was later promoted and served as Director of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and, most recently, as director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC).

He faces serious allegations of involvement in enforced disappearances, killings, and torture at secret detention centers known as "Aynaghar" during the Awami League government's tenure. Following last year's political change, he was dismissed from service on August 6 and arrested on August 16.

He was initially shown as arrested in a murder case filed with the New Market police station related to the anti-discrimination movement, but the International Crimes Tribunal later granted permission to interrogate him in connection with the July-August killings case.

Additionally, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed two cases against Ziaul and his wife over allegations of acquiring assets beyond known income and unusual transactions. His bank accounts have already been frozen and his flat and land seized on court orders.