‘Help us bring back killers of Bangabandhu’

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen yesterday sought cooperation from foreign diplomats in bringing back fugitive killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He was addressing a virtual discussion with foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka and New Delhi marking National Mourning Day to commemorate the 45th anniversary of martyrdom of Father of the Nation.

Law Minister Anisul Huq and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam also spoke at the discussion while Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen delivered the welcome remarks.

Around 83 diplomats stationed in Dhaka and New Delhi joined the discussion hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The foreign minister said five killers of Bangabandhu remain fugitive and the government came to know the whereabouts of two of them.

"We don't know the whereabouts of three killers," he said requesting friendly countries to help Dhaka identify their locations and return all the fugitives to Bangladesh.

The fugitives are: Col (dismissed) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haque Dalim, Maj (retd) Noor Chowdhury, Maj (retd) Rashed Chowdhury and Risaldar Moslehuddin Khan.

Noor Chowdhury is now in Canada while Rashed Chowdhury in the USA.

The foreign minister said the government wants to implement the court verdict to ensure justice and the rule of law in the country. The trial of Bangabandhu murder case was impeded by promulgating an Indemnity Ordinance and the BNP-Jamaat Alliance government stopped the trial.

One of the killers -- former captain Abdul Majed -- was executed recently.

Meanwhile, five killers of Bangabandhu -- Syed Farooq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed and Mohiuddin Ahmed -- were hanged in January 2010. Another killer, Aziz Pasha, had met natural death in Zimbabwe in 2001.

At the beginning of the discussion, a one-minute silence was observed paying tributes to Bangabandhu and his family members.