Former chief of army staff Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Tuesday that corruption in defence procurement took place during his tenure, but denied any personal involvement.

Iqbal, a retired general, served as the army chief between June 15, 2012 and June 24, 2015.

He said that he did not order any inquiry into the alleged corruption, claiming that the matter was outside his jurisdiction.

Iqbal made the remarks on the final day of his four-day cross-examination in a case against former Rapid Action Battalion officer and retired major general Ziaul Ahsan, who faces multiple charges of enforced disappearance during the Awami League regime.

Ziaul, a former additional director general for the operation of the Rapid Action Battalion, had been deputed from the army.

Iqbal, the first prosecution witness in the case, gave a 20-page deposition along cross-examination before the two-judge tribunal chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder.

He told the tribunal that Principal Staff Officer Lieutenant General Wadud, Lieutenant General Belal, and the Armed Forces Division under the Prime Minister’s Office were involved in defence purchases during his tenure.

He added that he could not take action over alleged corruption in the Army’s engineering corps as it did not fall within his authority.

Iqbal also testified that he had verbally instructed Lieutenant Colonel Mujib to stop ‘crossfire’ incidents.

He alleged that there had been a ‘killing mission’ within that RAB and said that there were verbal allegations against Ziaul Ahsan.

Senior lawyer Munsurul Haque Chowdhury, along with lawyers Aminul Ghani Tittu and Naznin Nahar, appeared for Ziaul, while chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam represented the state.