If Zahid Hossain Khokon, alias Khokon Razakar, remains in hiding and does not appear before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) to face trial, he will be tried and prosecuted in absentia. As per the provision of the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973, the tribunal will follow the same procedure as that adopted in the case of Bachchu Razakar, prosecutor Advocate Sultan Mahmud Simon said on Friday. Bachchu, accused of crimes against humanity, was awarded the death penalty early this year for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. The investigation agency of the ICT completed its inquiry against Khokon last week and found him to be involved in 13 incidents of crimes in 1971. Investigator Satya Ranjan Roy carried out the inquiry from April 16, 2012 to May 29, 2013.
Khokon was mayor of the Nagarkanda Municipality in Faridpur district and, presumably, he fled the country soon after the investigation against him began. According to an unconfirmed source, he is now staying in Sweden.
Now it is up to the law enforcement agency and the tribunal to trace Khokon and bring him back, chief investigator Abdul Hannan Khan said. “We have completed our probe and handed over the findings to the prosecution. Now the prosecution will take the next step to prosecute Khokon,” he said.
Regarding the allegations against the suspect, he said: “Khokon, along with his elder brother Zafar Razakar, formed a group of collaborators in Nagarkanda. They received arms and ammunition from the Pakistani army on April 21, 1971 and went on the rampage in the locality.”
Khokon became the sole commander of his group after Zafar was killed by freedom fighters, Khan said. With the help of Pakistani occupation forces, he then carried out a retaliatory attack against pro-Liberation people. Though it is yet to be confirmed how many people were killed by Khokon, a killing field and several mass graves across Faridpur still bear testimony to his atrocities, he added.
-With The Independent input
