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Sayedee was treasurer of looted goods

Witness tells war crimes tribunal

Staff Correspondent
Ruling Awami League lawmaker AKM Abdul Awal yesterday alleged Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee dismantled the house of one Madan Shaha and took the parts to his father-in-law's house in Parerhaat in 1971.
"A fund named 'Panch Tahabil' was created with looted goods and valuables. Sayedee served as the treasurer of that fund, ” said the lawmaker from Pirojpur before the International Crimes Tribunal.
Awal, the 12th prosecution witness, said he learnt it through "civilian sources" appointed as spies to help freedom fighters gather information on the movement of Pakistani soldiers and collaborators in Pirojpur during the Liberation War.
The three-member tribunal led by its Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq completed recording Awal's deposition. Sayedee's defence also began cross-examining the witness.
The cross-examination will continue today.
Jamaat's Nayeb-e-Ameer Sayedee was present in the dock during the proceedings. He is among six Jamaat and two BNP leaders facing charges of crimes against humanity committed during the War.
Earlier, the court began its proceedings at 10:42am after Sayedee was taken to the dock Awal, 58, started his deposition three minutes later.
Awal, alias Saydur Rahman, told the court he and other freedom fighters began preparing for the War after the March 7 speech by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He remained in Pirojpur till the first part of April. Later he went to Morrelganj in Bagerhat as the Pakistani forces approached Pirojpur.
He said after receiving training in India they returned on August 14 and attacked a camp of Pakistani soldiers and collaborators in Morrelganj.
They later set up a freedom fighters' camp in the Sundarbans from where they conducted operations, he added.
After the camp became larger in size and operation, they decided to deploy civilian spies in different areas,
he added.
Mahabubur Rahman, Raisuddin Poshari and Shahiduddin Poshari Siraj were the spies for Parerhaat.
The freedom fighters learned what was going on in different parts of the district through these civilian sources, said the legislator.
He added Pakistani soldiers came to Pirojpur in May 1971.
It was after that, he said, in the end of May, that initiative was taken to form the peace committee in Pirojpur. The committee was formed afterwards, he said.
"However, I can't mention the exact date as I don't remember it."
The peace committee at Parerhaat was formed under the leadership of Sekandar Sikder. The collaborator force was constituted after that, he said.
Though Awal could remember that Danesh Molla held important position in both committees, he could not recall which post
the collaborator held.
"After the Pakistani army came to Parerhaat, as they spoke Urdu, I heard they [collaborators) included Delawar Hossain Sayedee saheb for better communication," saidAwal.
He said he heard from his sources that Pakistani soldiers along with collaborators looted many stores in Parerhaat.
As Parerhaat was home to many Hindus and Awami League supporters, it experienced many incidents of plundering, rapes, arsons and killings, he added.
Houses of Nurul Islam, Manik Poshari, Shahiduddin Poshari and Raisuddin Poshari along with other Hindu community members were torched at the villages of Chithalia and Badura of Shankarpasha union, he said.
"I saw those burnt houses after independence. I heard Danesh Molla, Sekandar Sikder and Sayedee saheb were with them [arsonists)."
After independence, many collaborators escaped, some were captured and some were beaten to death by the mobs. Sayedee however could not be found in Pirojpur, he added.
He said the collaborators handed one Bhagirathi of Pirojpur over to Pakistani soldiers suspecting that she was a spy of the freedom fighters. She was tied to a jeep and dragged across the town before Pakistani forces shot her to death on the bank of the Baleshwar river.
Awal also described another incident in which one Omar Faruk of Pirojpur was handed over to the Pakistani soldiers. They inserted 13 steel rods with Bangladeshi flags into Faruk's body and asked him, 'bol shala! Joy Bangla bol!'
The Pirojpur MP completed his deposition at 12:10pm, after which the court went to an early lunch recess, almost half an hour in advance to allow the defence some time forpreparations.
After the court resumed at 2:00pm, Awal told the tribunal that he mistakenly said that Pakistani soldiers came to Pirojpur in the end ofMay.
In fact, the army came to Pirojpur in the first half of May, he told the court adding that the error caught his eyes when he was reading his recorded testimony.
He said he became distracted by the conversation between the prosecution and the defence and mistakenly said that.
The tribunal decided to record it as an explanation from the witness following his testimony.
The defence however objected to the move saying it has no legal basis. They said the prosecution should re-examine the witness and add the information in the re-examination.
However, the court decided to add the explanation as a record of the court proceedings for future reference.