A new prosecution witness said he had seen war crimes accused ATM Azharul Islam and his cohorts along with the Pakistani troops actively take part in the killing of at least 400 people, mostly Hindus, in Jharuar Beel of Rangpur during the Liberation War.
Abdur Rahman yesterday completed his deposition that began on Monday. His testimony corroborates the evidence of freedom fighter M Meser Uddin who earlier described the massacre at the tribunal 1.
On November 12 last year, the tribunal indicted Azhar, the Jamaat-e-Islami acting secretary general and a commander of al-Badr, on six charges of crimes against humanity.
According to the charge, over 1,200 unarmed were killed during the incident in April 1971. Rahman said he had seen a part of the incident from a bush when some 400 people were killed with a short span of time. He said people of six villages in the area had taken refuge in Jharuar Beel before the genocide unleashed.
On Monday, the tribunal expressed disappointment as the witness was not well-prepared and rebuked conducting prosecutor AKM Saiful Islam for his failure to guide the witness. Saiful yesterday followed the order.
“One Aminul from Dhappara told me that Azhar and his cohorts killed at least 15 including his aunt. They also burnt more than 100 houses there,” the witness described the mass killing in Dhappara.
