42 Hindus shot dead on Yusuf’s order – International Crimes Tribunal
Yet another freedom fighter has testified that 42 Hindus were shot dead at Shakharikathi Bazar of Kachua upazila in Bagerhat on November 5, 1971, following Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer AKM Yusuf’s orders.
Sikdar Habibur Rahman, a platoon commander and the 18th prosecution witness in Yusuf’s case, yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that he heard about the mass killing from a co-fighter, who was an eyewitness to the incident.
He said two freedom fighters on reconnaissance duty had told him that 40-50 Razakars killed the 42 Hindus on Yusuf’s instructions.
On Monday, Lutfar Rahman Nakib, a freedom fighter and the 16th prosecution witness, told the tribunal that Razakars shot 42 Hindus dead at Shakharikathi Bazar.
During his 61-minute testimony, Habibur said Yusuf, at a Peace Committee meeting at the Collectorate Office in Kachua on April 22, 1971, had delivered an inflammatory speech.
Following his speech, armed cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim League looted at least 10 Hindu-dominated villages in Kachua and took the booty to Bagerhat the same day.
He also told the tribunal that Razakars attacked his home and the home of Sunil Kumar Ghosh in Kachua in mid-May. They shot Sunil dead and critically injured Habibur’s father by stabbing him.
Habibur said he learnt from the villagers of Shakharikathi that Razakars had forcefully converted 200 Hindus.