Central leader says they have no info
Our Correspondent . Rajshahi
The police arrested two local leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh at Mohanpur in Rajshahi on Friday on charge of killing a freedom-fighter during the War of Independence in 1971.
The officer-in-charge of the Mohanpur police station, Asaduzzaman Milon, told New Age that the police had arrested Daud Hossain, 70, and Nur-a-Anwar, 65, of Dayangpara Barabari village in Mohanpur.
This is the first case in which any person accused of war crimes has been arrested since November 30, 1973, when a general amnesty for the collaborators who had not killed or committed major crimes was declared by the then prime minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
But a central leader of the party said in Dhaka that they had no information about the arrest of their two local leaders in Rajshahi.
Identifying the arrested as local Jamaat leaders, Milon said they were nabbed in connection with a case lodged by a slain freedom-fighter’s son, Mejharul Sheikh, on June 22, 2008, accusing 19 Jamaat leaders of killing his father Bashir Uddin, a freedom-fighter, during the War of Independence.
Daud and Nur, who were active members of the local ‘peace committee’ formed during the war for helping the Pakistani occupation army, were arrested as investigation into the case revealed evidence of their involvement in killing a number of freedom-fighters, including Bashir Uddin, said Milon.
The investigation officer in the case, sub-inspector Khoda Newaz, told New Age that during the investigation he had got proof of the involvement of Daud and Nur in the killing.
Accordingly he recommended the arrest of Daud and Nur, said Newaz, adding that it was essential to interrogate the two for the sake of the investigation.
Daud and Nur will be produced in a court this morning with a prayer for remanding the two in police custody for interrogation, Milon said.
In his complaint, plaintiff Mejharul accused 19 Jamaat leaders who include Shafiullah, Moyen Uddin and Boyen Uddin of Madanhati village under Mohanpur, Shamsuddin, Sirajul Islam, Matiur Rahman and Abdul Awal of Berabari village, Alam, Abdul Hye and Mannan of Mahishbathan area in the city, Abu Sayeed and Quddus Ali of Durgapur upazila, and Jaan Baksh, Abdul Haque, Berazul Islam and Kalim Uddin of Beersoil village under Mohanpur upazila.
When asked about the other accused persons, both the police officials said that all of them, against whom evidence could be gathered, would be arrested gradually, based on further development in the investigation.
The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami claimed that it was unaware of the arrest of two of its local leaders in Rajshahi on charge of war crimes.
‘We don’t know whether any party leader was arrested in Rajshahi,’ Abdul Kader Mollah, an assistant secretary-general of the party, told New Age on Friday. ‘I should have known if there was any information about the arrest.’
He said no one should be arrested unless he was proved to be involved in war crimes after a thorough and credible inquiry.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
