Kamaruzzaman hanged for wartime crimes

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman was hanged on Saturday night in Dhaka central jail, two years after he had been sentenced to death by a special tribunal for his 1971 wartime crimes.     

The death sentence was executed just after 10pm in the high-security prison, officials said, setting at rest all speculations for the last few days.    

A large contingent of police, RAB and detectives had taken position in the area since evening to beef up security after an executive order reached the prison authorities for executing the verdict.

The process was complete as the Jamaat assistant secretary-general opted for begging no presidential pardon.      

Earlier in the day, family members of Kamaruzzaman, including his wife, son and others, met him for the last inside DCJ around 5:00 pm.  

Hundreds of general people and journalists gathered in front of the high-security prison before the Jamaat assistant secretary-general was to walk the gallows.    

"All roads leading to the DCJ, where the death-row convict had awaited his execution, had been sealed off," says a firsthand account of the scenes.

Security was beefed up around the jail and in adjacent areas.

Movement of vehicles near the jail gate was also restricted.

Nazimuddin Road, Bongshal and Chawkbazar roads-- adjacent to the jail - had been made off-limits to vehicles since 7:00pm.

Speculations ran flying on Friday evening that Kamaruzzaman might be hanged any moment.

Earlier, Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam told the journalists that the execution of Kamaruzzaman would depend on the government, as the court proceedings had been finished.

Kamaruzzaman, a key organiser Al-Badr force in greater Mymensingh, was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 in May 2013, for war crimes that include mass killings in Sohagpur of Sherpur.

The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence awarded to him for mass killings in Sohagpur. The convict sought review of the judgment but was rejected on April 6 by a four-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

On Wednesday evening, receiving the copy of the SC verdict on Kamaruzzaman's review petition, Farman Ali read it out to the Jamaat leader and wanted to know whether he would seek president's mercy, according to jail sources.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com