The prosecution, for the first time, has found some “serious inconsistency” in the investigation process of the war crimes tribunal’s probe agency in the case of two alleged razakar siblings of Kishoreganj.
Claiming that it is “harmful” for the case, they sent back all the documents regarding the case to the agency for re-investigation.
The two accused are Nasir Uddin Ahmed alias Captain ATM Nasir, 62, and Shamsuddin Ahmed, 60, a member of Kishoreganj Bar Association. Nasir is on the run while Shamsuddin was arrested on November 26. The probe agency submitted its report to the prosecution the following day.
Sheikh Mosfeq Kabir, one of the prosecutors of the case, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We sent back the probe report and all the documents through the chief prosecutor as found some complexity and serious inconsistency in the investigation were identified.
“Their have been some contractions in the case documents and also in the deposition of witnesses. In an application, we have asked them to reinvestigation the case and provide more information.”
The Dhaka Tribune obtained a copy of the application where the prosecutor has showed some inconsistencies about the birthday and profession of the two accused. Mosfeq also pointed to some inconsistencies in the witness statements.
The investigation report says the current age of Nasir is 62 while his birth date February 9, 1954. He was 19 years’ old in 1971.
But if the birth date is correct then his current age is 60 years nine months and 15 days while he was 17 years’ old in 1971, as per the day of submission of the report. But the agency did not clarify on what basis they mentioned his age 19 years in the year of 1971.
The probe body submitted a copy of tabulation sheet collected from a private school where it shows that Nasir’s birth date is February 9, 1954. But the agency did not mention whether they had checked the matter with the Dhaka Education Board about his attending the SSC examination.
On the other hand, according to Nasir’s National Identity Card and SSC certificate, his birth date is December 1, 1957. He joined the Bangladesh Army on the basis of this date. According to this date, his age was 14 in 1971.
On the other hand, according to the NID and the investigation report, Shamsuddin was born on December 1, 1958 and he was 13 years’ old in 1971. But the agency mentioned that his age to be 17 years at that time. They also did not provide any documents about it.
Even though the arrestee is a lawyer, the probe agency did not provide any certificate about his joining the occupation. They also did not mention what was his previous occupation though the report says he joined the current profession recently.
Prosecutor Mosfeq also mentioned five inconsistencies about the statements of the possible witness, references and the crime time situations. “Two boys of 13 and 19 years’ age led the Pakistani Army [to commit crimes] is totally irrational,” he said.
Mosfeq also asked the probe body to take a decision about whether a person aged below 18 could be made accused according to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 and the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court.
The prosecutor said the investigation process had been faulty and that the case would be hampered if the formal charges were pressed without fixing the flaws.
“The prosecution will also be affected. In this situation, it needs to gather clear opinion of the chief prosecutor urgently,” he wrote.
Sanaul Huq, assistant co-ordinator of the probe agency, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is true that the prosecution is asking for reinvestigation for the first time. But it is not unusual. We will clarify all the issues and provide the prosecution with all necessary documents.”
