Former NSI director general sent to jail in war crimes case

International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has sent former director general of Bangladesh National Security Intelligence (NSI) Wahidul Haque to jail in a case filed over crimes against humanity. The court also fixed May 10 for next hearing on the case. A two-member tribunal led by Justice Amir Hossain passed the order on Wednesday, in response to a petition filed by Barrister Turin Afroz. Wahidul was arrested on April 24 for his alleged involvement in war crimes while commissioned as a Pakistan army officer during the 1971 Liberation War. He was detained from a house in the Baridhara district of Dhaka, hours after an arrest warrant was issued by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Wahidul is alleged to have participated in the killing of 500 to 600 unarmed Bangalis and Santals with a machine gun in Rangpur cantonment on March 28, 1971. The claims were first lodged with the ICT’s investigation wing in December 2016, prompting an investigation. Barrister Turin Afroz is now prosecuting the case.

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Md Wahidul Haque, who originally hails from Madaripur, received his commission in the 11th cavalry regiment of Pakistan army on October 16, 1966. In March 1970, he was transferred to the 29th cavalry regiment in Rangpur cantonment, where he was employed as an adjutant for the next 12 months. After the Liberation War was over, Wahidul went back to Pakistan, where he stayed until the end of 1973. He returned to Bangladesh the following year, whereupon he was released from the army. He joined Bangladesh Police in 1976 and went on to hold several important posts, including as an additional commissioner with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police from 1984 to 1987, before becoming the police commissioner for Chattogram in 1991. From 1991 to 1996, Wahidul held the office of the director general of NSI. From 1997-2000, he was the director general of the Department of Immigration and Passports, and, in 2005, he was given the post of additional inspector general.