The International Crimes Tribunal 1 sent Abul Kalam Mohammad Yusuf, senior nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, to jail Sunday afternoon.
The tribunal passed the order after Yusuf was produced before it at 4pm. It also fixed May 13 to hear the case against him.
Lawmen on Sunday arrested Abul Kalam Mohammad Yusuf from his Dhanmondi residence for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity in 1971.
Earlier in the morning, International Crimes Tribunal ordered the authorities concerned to arrest him by May 26 and produce him before it within 24 days after arrest.
The three-member tribunal, led-by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, passed the order on Sunday.
On May 8, state prosecution submitted formal charge against Abul Kalam Yusuf implicating him in 15 counts including rape, looting and genocide.
Prosecution brought 15 charges against the 84-year-old veteran including genocide, murder, looting and arson, and appealed for issuing arrest warrant against him.
Yusuf, who is historically known as the founder of the Razakar force, was charged with killing eight people and mass killing 700 others, looting 300 houses and 400 shops, and forcing 200 Hindus to convert to Islam, Hrishikesh Saha said.
The Investigation Agency submitted their report to the prosecution on April 22.
Earlier the investigators claimed they had found evidence of Yusuf’s involvement in forcibly converting and deporting people to India during the Liberation War in 1971.
On April 22, the investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal finalised a 111-page probe report against Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf
According to “Ekattorer Ghatak O Dalalra Ke Kothay,” a book published by Muktijuddha Chetana Bikash Kendra, AKM Yusuf, nayeb-e-ameer of Jamaat, established the Razakar force as an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army on May 5, 1971, at an Ansar camp on Khan Jahan Ali Road in Khulna with 96 Jamaat activists.
Before that, Yusuf – chairman of the so-called peace committee of greater Khulna (Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat) at that time – had formed peace committees in every sub-division, police station and union levels.
The war crimes suspect had gathered men to form the Razakar force since April 18, 1971.
According to the book, Yusuf, who was a member of AM Malek’s cabinet in 1971, monitored activities of several peace committees, Razakar and al-Badr forces and delivered speeches at different anti-liberation rallies.
As per different historic documents, Razakars were active in Bangladesh from May 1971, but the then Pakistan government formally established the force through a gazette notification on August 2.
The probe agency started the investigation into the alleged crimes of Yusuf, who hails from Rajair Kaliarpar under Sarankhola upazila in Bagerhat, on January 22 last year.
Yusuf was reportedly arrested after the Collaborator Order 1972 was formulated but was released after cancellation of the law on December 31, 1975.
The tribunal has already delivered verdicts against Jamaat leaders Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Delawar Hossain Sayedee, Abdul Qader Mollah, while one war crime case against former Jamaat chief Ghulam is awaiting verdict.
Expelled Jamaat member Abul Kalam Azad was also sentenced to death.
Besides, Jamaat ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed are facing trial.
Investigations against three detained Jamaat leaders – Mir Quashem Ali, Abdus Sobhan and ATM Azharul Islam – are underway.
