A former Rapid Action Battalion member and current Army Warrant Officer from Rangpur Cantonment on Sunday told the International Crimes Tribunal that he had witnessed numerous enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and covert operations carried out under the command of former RAB intelligence chief retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan.
Army officer Imrul made the claims while he was testifying before a tribunal headed by Justice Mohammad Shofiul Alam Mahmud.
During his roughly 15 to 16 months of service under Ziaul Ahsan, then holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, the Army officer said that he had witnessed between 150 and 200 people being killed or forcibly disappeared through different methods.
According to his testimony, some victims were shot dead, while others allegedly died after being injected with unidentified substances.
Giving his deposition, Imrul Kayes became emotional and told the tribunal, ‘I took an oath to serve my country, not to kill its people. I am giving this testimony because my conscience compels me to do so.’
At the end of his testimony, Imrul sought protection and security from the tribunal.
On January 14, the tribunal framed charges of crimes against humanity against Ziaul Ahsan for his alleged involvement in enforced disappearances and the killing of more than 100 people.
Arrested on August 15, 2024 in connection with a 2024 July murder case, retired Major General Ziaul was in the dock.
The development came following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime amid the student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024.
Earlier, former army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, who served as chief of army staff from June 25, 2012 to June 25, 2015, testified as the first witness against Ziaul.
The disappearance of M Ilias Ali, a prominent organizing secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and former MP, surfaced in Imrul’s deposition.
According to Imrul, on or around April 13, 2012, he accompanied then RAB intelligence director Ziaul Ahsan, Major Nawshad, Squadron Leader Saif and others in a microbus from the RAB headquarters to the area near the Mohakhali flyover.
Imrul said that he did not know who was to be picked up. During the operation, Ziaul was making a series of phone calls from inside the vehicle to ascertain when the target would arrive.
At one stage, they learned that the target would not come. The team then dropped Ziaul at his residence.
Imrul said that he subsequently went on a nine-day leave the following morning.
While on leave, Imrul said that he learned through media reports that BNP leader Ilias Ali had been abducted from the vicinity of the Mohakhali overpass.
Upon returning to duty on April 23, 2012, Imrul observed what he described as a tense atmosphere at the RAB headquarters.
He said that he had learnt from fellow personnel that Ziaul had destroyed armoury in-and-out registers and CCTV footage.
Imrul further stated that while the daily fall-in was usually held at 9:00am, from April 18 onward it was conducted at 7:00am, and Ziaul attended several consecutive roll calls.
He recounted that on one occasion during a roll call, Ziaul was speaking to someone on the phone when another call came in. According to him, Ziaul told the person on the line, ‘Hang up, Tarique (Major general Tarique Ahmed Siddique) Sir is calling.’ He then began speaking to ‘Tarique Sir.’ Although the witness could not hear the other side of the conversation, he claimed that Ziaul spoke in a tone of complaint, saying: ‘Sir, we picked up Ilias as per your instructions. If you treat us like this now, it is not right. I am a commando; it would be better if you posted me to the jungle.’
In his testimony, Imrul said that after being seconded to RAB in 2010, he was assigned as a runner and personal security aide to Ziaul Ahsan.
During that period, he accompanied the officer on multiple operations and allegedly witnessed the detention, disappearance, and killing of numerous individuals.
According to Imrul, detainees were often taken to undisclosed locations, killed, and their bodies were disposed of in rivers, along railway tracks, or in remote areas to conceal evidences.
In some cases, he alleged, heavy sacks were used to keep bodies submerged in rivers.
Imrul further testified that during ‘Operation Rebel Hunt’, launched in the aftermath of the 2009 BDR mutiny, several former Bangladesh Rifles personnel were detained and killed.
His testimony also referred to operations conducted in the Jaflong border area, Postogola, Kanchpur Bridge, Barishal-Patharghata, and various locations in Dhaka where detainees were allegedly killed and their bodies were secretly disposed of.
Imrul also described that two detainees were brought from a safe house operated by RAB-4 and transported in two microbuses.
After travelling for approximately half an hour, the vehicles stopped at a three-way intersection. Responding to a question from the tribunal, the witness clarified that both vehicles had stopped.
One detainee was taken out of the vehicle in which the witness was travelling.
Imrul alleged that Ziaul took the detainee aside, pressed a pistol against his head and shot him dead.
He claimed that the victim’s hair caught fire after the shooting and that some of those present laughed upon seeing it.
According to Imrul, the detainee’s hands and eyes were tied with clothes.
After the killing, members of the team removed the cloth bindings on Ziaul Ahsan’s instructions and returned to their vehicle.
They were then ordered to drive back to the RAB-4 headquarters, while Ziaul left with the other detainee.
When he later returned to RAB-4, the second detainee was no longer with him.
Imrul added that some operations were conducted by Ziaul without his knowledge and that he was only included in operations in which Ziaul considered his presence necessary.
He further testified that one or two weeks after the incident, while he was playing carrom in the barracks, Ziaul called him and instructed him to board a microbus parked in front of RAB-1 headquarters.
Complying with the order, he entered the vehicle and saw Major Nawshad seated inside along with two detainees—whom he later referred to as targets—wearing skullcaps.
