Death for Siraj, jail for Akram

The first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh on Tuesday sentenced Bagerhat's 'Razakar' Sheikh Sirajul Haque alias ‘Siraj Master’ to death. The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1, led by Justice Enayetur Rahim, also sentenced another 'Razakar' of Bagerhat district Khan Akram Hossain to jail unto death for war crimes. The ICT-1 started reading out the 133-page summary of the verdict around 11am and delivered the judgment around 12noon. The two were indicted on 7 charges, including torture, abduction, loot, murders, and mass killings of unarmed civilians during Bangladesh’s independence struggles in 1971.

7 CHARGES

Charge 1: On May 13, 1971, Ranjitpur village of Bagerhat was attacked. During the mayhem between 2pm to 6pm, hundreds of houses were looted and set to fire while 40 to 50 unarmed civilians belonging to the Hindu community were murdered.
Charge 2: Around two to three thousand people belonging to the Hindu community gathered at a temple in Bangerhat's Rampal Thana, on way to refugee camps in India. On May 21, 1971, armed men attacked the temple and killed 600 to 700 people.
Charge 3: During a dawn-to-dusk attack on 18 Jun, 1971, at Kandaparha area of, 19 people were confined, tortured and killed.
Charge 4: Around 50 houses were looted and set to fire on Oct 14, 1971, at Chulkatthi area of Bagerhat Sadar Thana. Seven unarmed civilians were murdered then.
Charge 5: Forty-two people were detained, tortured and killed during an attack on Nov 5, 1971, at Shakarikatthi area of Bagerhat's Kachuya Thana. Several houses were looted and set to fire also.
Charge 6: Five people from different villages of Kachuya Sadar Thana were abducted, tortured and then killed on Oct 22, 1971.
Charge 7: Freedom fighter Fazlur Rahman Sikder was detained around 7pm from Teligati area of Bagerhat's Morhelganj Thana on Dec 13, 1971. He was later tortured and killed.

- mbz