Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has hailed the arrest of Abdul Majed, former army officer and convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as a gift of Mujib Year.
“We have been able to provide a gift of Mujib Borsho to the nation, and I want to thank those who were involved in this action (of arresting),” he said in a video, uploaded on his verified Facebook page.
“Our commitment is wherever the convicts are. We will bring them back to the country, or at least keep trying our best to do that,” he said.
“This killer (Majed), was not only involved in Bangabandhu’s killing, but was also involved in jail killings (of four national leaders in Dhaka Central Jail),” he added.
“Ziaur Rahman’s government rewarded the killers of Bangabandhu, and with the indemnity bill it became such that they could not be punished,” said the minister. “He then went into hiding when Awami League came to power in 1997.”
“Now we can say with our heads held high that he has been brought to justice,” he furthered.
Earlier on Monday night, a team from Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police arrested Majed from Dhaka’s Mirpur Cantonment area.
On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court upheld a High Court verdict that awarded capital punishment to 12 killers, including Majed, for killing Bangabandhu and most of his family members in a coup d’état on August 15, 1975.
Still five killers remain fugitive -- Col (dismissed) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haque Dalim, Maj (retd) Noor Chowdhury, Maj (retd) Rashed Chowdhury, and Risaldar Moslehuddin Khan.
