A new prosecution witness in the case against Syed Mohammad Qaisar claimed yesterday that the accused and his cohorts, with the help of Pakistani occupation forces, had burnt at least 25 Hindu villages and killed around 100 people in a day during the 1971 Liberation War.
Abdul Matin alias Jalal, 63, testified at the International Crimes Tribunal 2 and described the atrocities that took place at Chitna, Gutma, Dawra, Bhurunga and Nishchintapur of Habiganj.
The witness was the chairman of Guniauk Union Parishad in 1988. He knew Qaisar, a state minister in Ershad’s tenure, since he was a political person. He had taken part in the 1970 election campaign for the Awami League as a student of Chittagong City College.
Jalal said: “In November, our informer Kutub Raja told us that hundreds of army men, along with the Qaisar Bahini, planned to attack Nasir Nagar. Following this, we divided in many small groups, and as per the plan, I went to Chitna, taking five fellow members with me.
“On November 15, the anti-liberation forces gathered at one Monjur Ali’s place and were planning to attack the nearby villages. Then we went to a secure place near the cremation ground and witnessed the atrocities in Chitna, Gutma and Dawra,” he said, adding that Qaisar had left the place around noon.
The witness said they had gone to the place again the following day and found that at least 30 people had been killed during the atrocities. When they went to Rajab Ali’s house in Lazmipur village, “the locals told us that Qaisar and his cohorts had gone there and burnt houses after looting goods and killed at least 100 Hindu people.”
The tribunal adjourned the trial until today, keeping the cross-examination incomplete.