Recording of testimony of Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, investigating officer (IO) in the Chittagong arms haul cases, ended in the court of SM Mujibur Rahman, judge of the Special Tribunal-1, on Monday. He began his testimony on April 22. Later, he was cross-examined by defence lawyers. On the last day of his testimony, Chowdhury said: “After examining the statements of 20 persons, including senior officials of the government, I was convinced that Lutfozzaman Babar, then state minister for home, Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami, then industry minister, Nurul Amin, then additional secretary in the industry ministry, and ULFA leader Paresh Barua were involved in the smuggling, unloading and transporting of arms. Later, I submitted chargesheets in the case, accusing 11 more persons of being involved in the arms haul incident. Of them, Babar and Nizami were in jail in separate cases. I appealed to the court to show them arrested in the arms haul cases.”
Chowdhury told the court that he had arrested Nurul Amin, though Paresh Barua managed to remain a fugitive. “I quizzed Babar, Nizami and Nurul Amin. After interrogating them, I included 11 more persons in the chargesheets of the two cases. As a result, the accused in the two cases now number 50 and 52, respectively,” he said.
Today’s hearing was delayed because of a bomb threat. The hearing started at 2 pm. Chowdhury’s cross-examination began at around 4 pm. The court was adjourned till Tuesday. The cross-examination of Chowdhury will continue. The verdicts in the two cases are likely to be announced within June.
-With The Independent input
