The first prosecution witness of a war crimes case yesterday linked one of the two accused alleged Razakars to the killing of 34 Hindus in Kishoreganj and accused him of ordering the forced conversion of the religious community in Dampara village to Islam.

Syed Mohammad Hussain alias Hossain, the alleged Nikli Thana Razakar commander and younger brother of convicted war criminal Syed Hasan Ali, and Muhammad Moslem Pradhan face six charges of crimes during the 1971 Liberation War.

Moslem is now in jail and pleads not guilty while Hussain is on the run.

Badal Chandra Barman, 59, told

International Crimes Tribunal-1 that many Hindu families of their Dampara village had left for India during that time while those staying back were in panic.

In the first part of the Bangla month of Bhadra, one Teku, the then chairman of both Dampara union and the Peace Committee formed there, arrived with his associated and conveyed Hussain's offer to choose forced conversion or death, he said.

The victims were given Muslim names and kept under watch to see whether they practiced Islam, he said, adding, "They told the women not to use vermilion and bangles made of conch and keep idols of gods and goddesses in their houses."

On Ashwin 6, Hussain, some 60 Razakars, and the Pakistani occupation army men arrived at Dampara Bazar in a launch around 3:00pm, said Badal.

Some army men and 20 to 25 Razakars got down, detained some 10 to 12 Hindus and brought them to one Banabasi Sutradhar's house, he said.

The others detained another 25 to 27 Hindus, including him, from the village and took them to the house, he added.

Hussain and some army men went to neighbouring Nabinpur village and returned after some time, informing the waiting Razakars that the Hindus there had fled, said Badal.

The 39 detainees were taken to Nikli Police Station and the 35 adults made to stand in two lines while he and three other

minors kept under a tree in front of the station, he said.

After half an hour, the Razakars started torturing the 35 with sticks and bayonets and then with the army men took them away, said Badal.

After some time, they heard gunshots and the captors returned, talking to each other about how the detainees were shot dead in a cremation ground, he said, adding that Hussain and an army major released them the next day.

He said one Kamini Barman had managed to flee the killing with a bullet wound in his hand. Badal said Razakars and Pakistani army men had also tortured women of their village that day.

Defence counsels completed his cross-examination before the three-member tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque adjourned proceedings until today.