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Mueen, Ashraf led the killing of intellectuals

Lone survivor of Rayerbazar killing tells war tribunal

Staff Correspondent
Delwar Hossain, the lone survivor of Rayerbazar massacre, yesterday testified that he had seen alleged Al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan supervise and lead the intellectual killing mission in 1971.
Delwar, who was detained and tortured at the Al-Badr headquarters in Mohammadpur during the Liberation War, also told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that martyred professors Munier Chowdhury and Mofazzal Haider
Choudhury had been tortured there in front of his eyes.
The 22nd prosecution witness in the case against Mueen and Ashraf said he had also seen Al-Badr men killing journalist Selina Parvin by charging bayonet at Rayerbazar ignoring her earnest request.
Delwar, 70, also gave a heart-wrenching description of the brutality at the headquarters of Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of the then Pakistani occupation army that was mainly responsible for the killing of intellectuals.
During his two-hour testimony, Delwar
FROM PAGE 1 said he was the chief accountant of Greenland Mercantile Company and was living in Shantibagh area in Dhaka during the Liberation War.
In March, 1971, he had heated arguments with a non-Bengali director of his company, as the director had hurled abusive words at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Delwar suspects that the director, who was a retired air force officer, might have listed his name (to give it to the Pakistani army or their collaborators).
Delwar said around 10:00am on December 14, 1971, six armed men in khaki (brown) and two in civil clothes had come to his house. An army officer in uniform was waiting a little faraway.
"After entering my house, three men in khaki pointed guns at me and the two men in civil clothes held me by my hands and took me to the
army officer," said Delwar, adding, "They [the two in civil clothes] addressed each other as brother and Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman."
Delwar said following the instructions of the army man, the Al-Badr men had taken him near Malibagh intersection and then blindfolded him with his shirt and tied up his hands and put him into a microbus.
On the way more people had been picked up in the vehicle, said the witness, adding that they had been brought to a place around 12:30pm and kept confined to a room on the first floor of a building.
Delwar said a teenage boy, whose hands were free, untied Del war's hands on his request. He (Delwar) then removed his blindfold.
"The name of the boy was Tarek and he was a class-VIII student. Fie told me that it was
Mohammadpur Physical Training Institute, which had been turned into Al-Badr headquarters," said Delwar.
"I saw many people on the floor there. Eyes of some people were gouged out while many others bore severe torture marks ... the entire floor was flooded with blood. It was around 1:00pm by then," said emotion-chocked Delwar.
Later, Delwar again put on the blindfold softly on his eyes, so that he could see everything, and soaked his clothes and body with blood to fool the Al-Badr men.
Around dusk, more people were brought in the room. Of them, one detainee had requested to free his hands, said Delwar.
"I untied his hands and recognised the man. He was our teacher Munier Chowdhury," said Delwar, adding that he knew Prof Munier and Prof Mofazzal
Haidar Choudhury as he was also a Dhaka University (Dll) student.
As their relatives testified, DU professors Munier and Mofazzal were abducted by Al-Badr men on December 14, 1971.
Delwar said around 8:30pm, two men entered into the room with lanterns and 10/12 men armed with iron rods followed them.
"The duo went near Munier Chowdhury and said 'You have taught mantra to your university students all these days; now we will teach you some mantra," said Delwar.
When they asked Munier Chowdhury whether he had written any book on Rabindranath Tagore, he replied in the negative.
They asked the same question to Mofazzal and as he answered in the positive, the duo told their subordinates, "They [Munier and Mofazzal]
have to be executed as they are Indian spies."
Then they started beating them up indiscriminately with iron rods, said Delwar in a soaked tone. They also hit Delwar with iron rod in the head and legs.
Yesterday, Delwar showed the court the injury mark on his head.
He said the men came once again to the room around 12:30am and boarded all the detainees in 20/22 buses and took them to a place. The place was Katasur in Mohammadpur (known as Rayerbazar Martyred Intellectuals' Memorial built after the independence).
Delwar said the detainees had been bayoneted to death one after another near a beel. Some detainees, who were crying, were shot dead.
"The killing spree continued until 4:00am of December 15, 1971. I saw it |the killing] as my blind-
fold was loose," he said, adding, "I also took mental preparation for death."
At one point, Delwar heard screams of a woman, who was requesting to release her.
"Don't kill me. You have mothers and sisters. What would you do if I were your mother or sister? I have a little kid; he will die, if you kill me," Delwar quoted the woman as saying.
Asked by the killers, the woman identified her as journalist Selina Parvin, said Delwar.
As per her son's testimony, Selina was abducted from her house on December 13, 1971.
"Please release me. I will never come back to Dhaka. I won't write anything in newspaper," said Delwar quoting Selina. He added that they had killed her charging bayonets.
In the meantime, one youth requested Ashrafuzzaman and
Mueen Uddin to save him but they did not pay heed to it and moved away, he said.
"Getting this opportunity, I untied my hands and removed my blindfold and started running towards a river because I preferred to shot dead rather than being bayoneted," said Delwar.
He said after seven to eight minutes, when the killers had discovered that a detainee (Delwar) was missing, they started firing in the dark, but he managed to flee by crossing the river.
That morning of December 15, 1971, Delwar was rescued by two villagers of Basila. He claimed to the court yesterday that of all the detainees taken to Katasur (Rayerbazar), he was the only one to survive.
On December 17, he returned to Dhaka and on December 19 Bangla daily Dainik Bangla published
his interview, said Delwar. Later, he gave many media interviews.
The state-appointed defence also finished cross-examining Delwar yesterday.
Delwar yesterday came to testify in taking permission from his doctor, as he has been undergoing treatment at a hospital from August 14. After his testimony he went back to the hospital.
The tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan adjourned the case proceedings until tomorrow.
Prosecutor Sahidur Rahman said they would produce one of the two investigation officers of the case as their next witness.
Meanwhile, the defence yesterday completed cross-examining of Tohurul Alam Mollah, the 20th prosecution witness, in the war crimes case against Motiur Rahman Nizami at the International Crimes Tribunal-1.