A physician who was a victim of enforced disappearance told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 today that he saw daylight for the first time in 60 days when he was taken out of a secret detention facility for a staged arrest display.

Dr Ashiq-ul-Akbar said 10 to 12 plainclothes men picked him up from his maternal uncle’s home in Tongi in 2016. Blindfolded and handcuffed, he was taken in a microbus to an unidentified location, where he was detained for about two months.

Ashiq, then a third-year MBBS student at Rangpur Prime Medical College, gave the account while testifying as a prosecution witness in a crimes against humanity case over enforced disappearances allegedly linked to the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) cell, which was reportedly operated under Rab.

He said he was allowed only three minutes to use the toilet twice a day and was beaten if he took longer. During interrogation, he said, he was beaten, suspended by his arms using a towel and hook, and later subjected to electric shocks to his earlobes after refusing to admit links to a militant group.

Fearing further torture, Ashiq said he copied a statement handed to him onto a blank sheet of paper. He said his Facebook login details were taken, his retina and fingerprints recorded, and a video confession obtained.

He added that the blindfold injured his right eye and caused a retinal tear, requiring surgery after his release.

After about 60 days, he said, he was taken outside and photographed. He was then taken with three other detainees to the Rab-1 media centre, where weapons and books had been arranged on a table.

He said he later saw the photos published in newspapers while he was in jail.

Three cases were subsequently filed against them with Tongi Police Station on July 21, 2016. Ashiq, who was a "Sathi" of Islami Chhatra Shibir, spent 13 months in jail before securing bail. He sought the highest punishment for those responsible.

Seventeen people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her former defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, three former Rab chiefs and 11 army officers who previously served in Rab, are accused in the case.

According to the prosecution, at least 14 detainees were confined and tortured at the TFI cell between 2016 and 2024.