The widow of martyr Dr Azharul Huq in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami Monday said two Pakistani army personnel along with some armed Bangalees had abducted her husband in Dhaka during the 1971 Liberation War.
Syed Salma Mahmud alias Salma Huq told the International Crimes Tribunal 1 that the abductors had also taken away neighbour Dr Humayun Kabir in front of her eyes. Both the incidents took place on order of the accused, she alleged.
Dr Azhar was working at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) during the war.
Before recording her deposition, the tribunal gave orders in two petitions filed by the defence.
On Thursday, during the cross-examination of prosecution witness Shahjahan Ali, one of his answers was not clear. The defence then requested the tribunal to check the video recording. Yesterday, the tribunal said in its order that the answer was not clear in the recording too.
The other petition was filed challenging the inclusion of Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury as a prosecution witness even though her name was not in the original witness list. The defence said the prosecution had appealed for submitting some additional documents, not for adding up a witness. But the prosecution placed the witness without obtaining permission of the tribunal. The defence argued that the deposition of the witness should not be noted.
On the other hand, prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said in their application, they had mentioned about granting additional 28 witnesses.
After hearing both the sides, the tribunal said it had allowed five out of the 28 witnesses. So, the prosecution did not need to take further permission.
While placing Salma Huq, the defence opposed and wanted to know whether her name was on the list of five witnesses.
The prosecution replied in the affirmative.
The witness said on March 23 during the war, she had been admitted to DMC with severely illness. During the crackdown of March 25, she and her husband had seen massacre at Dhaka University from their cabin, bearing number 33.
She added that her husband did private practice in a pharmacy named Sayeda. He used to treat wounded freedom fighters there. In front of that pharmacy, there was another Ali Pharmacy, owned by one Bihari [Urdu-speaking Bangalee].
“They always kept vigil on my husband and we thought that they used to provide information to the Pakistan Army.”
On November 15, some armed Bangalees and two Pakistani Army personnel had gone to their residence “when my husband was waiting for ambulance to go to the hospital. Dr Humayun Kabir was with him. The abductors came and took them dragging to the main road. I followed them, but after sometime some armed Bangalees took me back to my house.”
Salma said she had asked those people why and where her husband had been taken. “The answered that they took him on the order of Motiur Rahman Nizami.”
The next day, Dr Shamsuddin of the hospital told her that they had got the bodies of two physicians kept at the DMC morgue. “Then my family members went there and identified the bodies. Those had no clothes but underwear, and the hands and legs were tied and blindfolded,” she said.
Then the witness identified Nizami in the dock and said those had killed the intellectuals of the nation must be punished.
She demanded capital punishment for Nizami, and said because of the accused, “I became widow just one and a half years of my marriage. My husband died when I was six months pregnant.”
Meanwhile, the tribunal set September 19 to set a date on taking into cognisance the charges brought against Maulana Abdus Subhan.
On Sunday, the prosecution pressed nine charges against the Jamaat leader he had allegedly committed in Pabna region during the war.
