Enamul Haq Khan, son of martyred journalist Sirajul Haq Khan, told the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) 2 how his father was abducted, on Tuesday.
He is the third prosecution witness to testify against the alleged al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
After his deposition was given to the tribunal, the defence counsels Abdus Shukur Khan and Salma Hye began his cross examination.
Later Justice Obaidul Hassan adjourned the tribunal’s proceedings for the day, until today, for further witnesses to give their depositions.
Sirajul Haq Khan was a teacher at the Institute of Education and Research, of the University of Dhaka. His son Enamul Haq Khan said: “On December 14, 1971, when they took my father, my younger uncle watched from the third floor of the house. He told us later that a mini bus came with its windows blocked with mud. One Mueen Uddin with a gang of men took my father.”
“He always spoke against the Pakistan government and its discrimination against [erstwhile] East Pakistan, and so he was identified as an anti-government intellectual.”
In his deposition, the witness said: “I cannot identify Mueen and Ashraf as those responsible. But after Liberation, Masuda Banu, the niece of another martyred intellectual Gias Uddin Chowdhury, told us about them.”
Masuda Banu testified at the tribunal as the first prosecution witness.
Enamul said after the war, they searched for his father’s body in mass graves and killing grounds afterwards. He also said he met the driver of the minibus with the help of an officer of the National Security Intelligence (NSI).
“The driver told me that Ashraf himself killed the people abducted at the Mirpur killing ground. On January 4, 1972, NSI officer Samad Talukder helped us to find the bodies of eight intellectuals including my father.”
The other bodies were of Prof Gias Uddin Ahmed, Dr Abul Khayer, Dr Faijul Mohi, Sontosh Chandra Bhattacharya, Prof Kamal Pasha, Prof Rashedul Hasan and Dr Murtoza.
The tribunal jointly indicted the accused in 11 counts of crimes against humanity. According to the prosecution the charges include killing 18 intellectuals, of whom nine were Dhaka University teachers, six journalists and three doctors. Shahidullah Kaiser and Selina Parvin were among the victims.
The prosecution allege Mueen Uddin was al-Badr’s “operation-in-charge” and Ashrafuzzaman played the role of “chief executor.”