A prosecution witness against war crimes suspect Mobarak Hossain Tuesday said the accused and his accomplices had tortured members of Hindu community including Ashuranjan Dev and demolished temples in Akhaura of Brahmanbaria during the 1971 Liberation War.
Freedom fighter Nani Gopal Mallick told the International Crimes Tribunal 1 that he had heard from villagers about the re-naming of a Hindu temple as “Razakar Manjil” by Mobarak, who is facing five charges of crimes against humanity.
After his deposition, defence counsel Ahsanul Haque cross-examined the witness. The tribunal headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir set August 26 for the next witness.
In his deposition, Nani Gopal, the seventh witness, told the tribunal: “I was an informer of the freedom fighters. My job was to inform them about the activities of Pakistan Army and razakars. During that time, I heard from villagers that Mobarak vandalised Kalibari and Ramakrishna temples. Together with his accomplices, Mobarak changed the name of Anandamoye Kali Mandir to Razakar Manjil.”
Describing the torture on Hindu community by the collaborators, the witness said: “In October of 1971, Mobarak abducted Ashuranjan Dev and took him to Anandamoye Kali Mandir and tortured him. Later Ashuranjan was taken to Kurulia canal and tortured.”
After his deposition, the witness identified Mobarak, who was sitting in the dock, as the perpetrator of the crimes that he had described. Thereafter, the defence quizzed him.
Ahsanul suggested that the witness was coached by the prosecution and asked by Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad to give false statement in a false case. Nani Gopal denied the suggestions made by the defence.
The charges against Mobarak include killing of 33 people in Akhaura, and abduction and killings in Shyampur between August and December 1971. He has been associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, BNP and also Awami League at different points of time. A couple of years earlier, he was expelled from the Awami League.