A witness in the war crimes case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem Ali alias Bangla Khan yesterday said that the accused had ordered his followers in al-Badr force to abduct, torture and subsequently kill innocent civilians for supporting the Liberation War.
Mir Kashem, now an Executive Committee member and key financier of the party, with the other collaborators had helped the Pakistani occupation forces to commit atrocities in Chittagong during the war, said freedom fighter Nasir Uddin Chowdhury while speaking as the third witness.
The witness also works as a journalist. He said he had fought the war as a member of Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF) which is also known as Mujib Bahini.
After his deposition, Defence Counsel Mizanul Islam asked him four questions and pleaded for an adjournment.
The International Crimes Tribunal 2, headed by Justice Obaidul Hasan, then adjourned the proceedings until today.
“One night in the month of November, I was captured by the al-Badr men and taken to Daleem Hotel in the city where al-Badr members had confined and tortured the pro-liberation people," the witness said.
“There they tortured me severely and asked me repeatedly about my arms and ammunition and whereabouts of my fellow freedom fighters. At one stage, Mir Kashem came and as he came to know that I did not give any information, he asked them to torture me more,” Nasir said, adding that he had been beaten up every day.
“My fellow fighters told me that Mir Kashem was the main organiser of al-Badr in Chittagong. Members of this auxiliary force of the Pakistani army abducted, tortured and killed unarmed civilians on his order,” he added.
The witness also added that on December 6 of 1971, there was a bombing at the Chittagong airport and Mir Kashem had been injured at that time. After that, they became more vicious and started to torture the confined pro-liberation people more.
The formal trial against Mir Kashem began On November 18 last year. He is facing 14 charges of crimes against humanity.
