Abul Hasanat Abdullah ordered 'crossfire' killings of BNP leaders, witness tells ICT
BNP activist Kabir Molla's son tells tribunal his father was abducted in 2015 and later killed in a staged crossfire allegedly over political rivalry.
Ashikur Rahman Asif, son of BNP leader Kabir Molla, has told the International Crimes Tribunal that his father was abducted from Ashulia in 2015 by plainclothes men, taken to Agailjhara in Barishal, and later killed in a staged "crossfire" incident allegedly to settle a political score.
Kabir Molla, a popular BNP activist and organising secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas) in Agailjhara, had left the area with his family for Ashulia, Dhaka, following what his son described as threats from then ruling Awami League MP Abul Hasanat Abdullah.
Asif gave the testimony today (19 August) before International Crimes Tribunal-2 in a crimes-against-humanity case filed over the alleged extrajudicial killings of Kabir Molla and Tipu Howlader, then joint general secretary of Agailjhara upazila unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal. Four people, including former MP Abul Hasanat Abdullah, have been accused in the case.
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In his testimony, Asif said his father had long been involved in BNP politics in Nagarbari village under Agailjhara police station and served as general secretary of the local Jasas unit. He said Kabir Molla and Tipu Howlader were politically active together and were highly popular among local residents.
According to Asif, their popularity angered then Barishal-1 MP Abul Hasanat Abdullah, who allegedly threatened them with death and pressured them to abandon BNP politics.
He said the threats eventually forced his father to move with his wife and children to Kurgaon in Ashulia, where Kabir worked as a bus driver and his wife worked at a garment factory.
Asif said that on 19 February 2015, 12 to 13 men came to their home in Kurgaon, identified themselves as members of the Detective Branch (DB) and took his father away.
The following day, Asif learned from television news that his father and Tipu Howlader had been killed in a "gunfight" with police.
Asif said he, his mother and his younger uncle travelled to their village home that evening and found his father's body there after police had completed the autopsy.
Asif further alleged that men affiliated with Abul Hasanat Abdullah verbally abused the family during the burial and instructed them to bury the body quickly and return to Dhaka.
He said the family later learned that Abul Hasanat Abdullah, allegedly acting out of political vengeance, had arranged the killings through then Barishal Superintendent of Police AKM Ehsanullah and two police officers from Uzirpur police station.
According to the testimony, Assistant Sub-Inspectors Mahabul Islam and Jasim Uddin carried out the killings.
The accused in the case are former MP Abul Hasanat Abdullah, former Uzirpur police station ASIs Md Mahabul Islam and Md Jasim Uddin, and AKM Ehsanullah.
Mahabul Islam and Jasim Uddin are currently in custody.
