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Testimony in War Trial

Qaisar had link with killings in Habiganj

Staff Correspondent
A prosecution witness yesterday linked war crimes accused Syed Mohammad Qaisar to a mass killing at a village in Habiganj that left at least eight people dead during the Liberation War in 1971.
Lokman Hossain, a resident of Lohaid village under Madhabpur upazila, said he had seen Qaisar when the Pakistan army shot one of his neighbours dead on May 15,1971.
Lokman, 22nd prosecution witness in the case against Qaisar, told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that his house was also looted the same day and he had "assumed" Qaisar and the armydid it.
Earlier, Ful Miah and Omar Ali gave testimony about the massacre of May 15. Ful Miah testified that the Pakistani army accompanied by Qaisar had shot eight people at Lohaid, while Omar said the army had shot his uncle dead following a "signal" from Qaisar.
Qaisar, post-1971 a state minister in the HM Ershad regime, faces 16 charges, including genocide committed in Habiganj and Brahmanbaria in 1971. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty before the tribunal.
Lokman, a 61-year-old ex-army man, said he had hidden under a haystack after hearing that the Pakistan army had entered the village around 9:30am on May 15.
At one stage, he had seen Qaisar along with some army personnel and Bangalees on a road before the house of his neighbour Abdul Gafur, said Lokman.
"Some Bangalees and Pakistani army men were beating up Abdul Gafur and at one stage the army men shot him dead. Qaisar Saheb was present there," said Lokman.
When the army left the area around 1:30pm, he went to the spot and saw Gafur's body there, said the witness. After hearing a scream from Gafur's house, he went inside and found the body of Ga fur's father Abdu 1 Aziz.
"When I returned home, I found everything scattered and assumed that the Pakistan army men and Qaisar
Bahini had looted our house," said Lokman during his 47-minute testimony.
The witness said he along with some other people had buried six bodies in two graves and he left the country for India that day. He had heard from India that two other bodies were also found the following day, added Lokman.
"We [villagers] were innocent people. We were punished for no crimes. I want the punishment of the accused," said emotion-choked Lokman as he identified Qaisar at the courtroom.
Defence lawyer Abdus Sobhan Tarafder completed Lokman's cross-examination with the suggestion that his client was "not involved" in any such crimes and the witness had given "false testimony being influenced."
Lokman denied itemphatically.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan, with members Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Shahinur Islam, adjourned