Nizami, Subhan, their men killed innocent people
Witnesses tell Int'l Crimes Tribunal's probe team in Pabna
Jamaat leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami, Abdus Subhan, Ishhaque, 50 to 60 of their men and some Naxalites worked as the collaborators of the Pakistan occupation army and killed innocent people of the district during the War of Liberation.
Local people, including war victims of the district, told this to the investigation team of The International Crimes Tribunal here yesterday.
An 11-member investigation team led by Sayed Rezaur Rahman, prosecutor of the tribunal, started its investigation in the district yesterday.
The team reached the district headquarters in the afternoon and visited Power Development Board's (PDB) Power House at Nurpur village and then went to Pabna Aliya Madrasa at Radhanagar village in the evening.
The powerhouse building was used as a camp of Pakistan occupation army and Pabna Aliya Madrasa was used as a torture camp by the collaborators during the War of Liberation, said the freedom fighters, eyewitnesses and local people to the investigation team.
Md Habibur Rahman Habib, commander of Pabna Muktijodhha Sangsad, said, “Maulana Muhammad Abdus Subhan was the head of the collaborators' camp of Pabna Aliya Madrasa.
“Over 50 of his followers were engaged in this camp. They caught people from different areas of the district and tortured them here.
“The collaborators sent people (who were caught) to Nurpur Wapda and the Pakistan army killed them here with the help of the collaborators.”
Rezaur Rahim Lal, an eyewitness and also an AL leader, told the investigating team that over one thousand people, including the freedom fighters and people from the Hindu community, were killed in Wapda army camp.
The Pakistani army then dumped the bodies in the Padma and Jamuna Rivers, he added.
The freedom fighters, locals and the war victims claimed that some identified Naxalites were the collaborators too.
Tipu Biswas, the central leader of Gono Front, and Khandaker Masud, a Naxalite during that time, killed freedom fighters, said Habib to the investigation team.
Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal team took the testimony of over 50 victims, during the War of Liberation, from different areas of Pabna Sadar Upazila.
The victims, both male and female, described the tragic memories before the investigation team.
Panna Begum, a 55-year-old woman of Najirganje village, said, “Maulana Subhan and his followers caught my husband Seken Prang along with other villagers on December 1. My husband was also martyred along with other villagers on the day.”
The collaborators also burnt houses in the villages, said 70-year-old Tarizan Begum while narrating the tragic memories.
Freedom fighter Nilu of Najirganje village said, “We have fought against the Pakistan occupation army and against the Naxalites, who tortured people.”
Rezaur said they found in the primary investigation that Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, Subhan, Maulana Ishhaque and 50 to 60 of their fellow men were directly involved in the 1971 mass killings in Pabna.
“We will take the statement of the witnesses and visit more places where the collaborators did the crimes during the War of Liberation,” he said.
During the investigation, it became clear to the team that the collaborators caught freedom fighters and innocent people in Aliya madrasa camp and sent them to the Pakistan army camp in Wapda, he said.
He added that after the killing, the bodies were dumped into the rivers.
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