Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruq Faruqi told the Dhaka CMM Court today that the person Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury had "tortured and tried to kill" is now the prime minister.
“Masud led the entire operation -- harassing political leaders, torturing and crippling them, and implementing the ‘Minus Two’ formula,” he said.
Faruqi made these remarks during a five-day remand hearing in a case over human trafficking and forgery of documents filed with Paltan Model Police Station.
Amid tight security, Masud was escorted to a packed courtroom of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) Court of Dhaka today.
As he was being escorted back to the CMM Court lockup after the hearing, a group of people shouted slogans against him. Some of them even threw eggs at him.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor said, “We saw this man (Masud) during the 1/11 (caretaker government) period... Under his leadership, thousands of crores of taka were collected. He also led a task force -- which meant abducting people, torturing them, and extorting money. He was the head of this operation.”
“During 1/11, there was hardly any businessman in Bangladesh who was not detained and extorted from. Masud was the mastermind,” he further said.
Defence lawyer Morshed Hossain Shahin sought bail and cancellation of the remand.
“The final report was already submitted in this case once before. Now it is being reinvestigated. The allegations against him are fabricated,” the defence lawyer told the court.
After hearing both sides, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid granted a five-day remand for Masud.
Masud was arrested earlier today from his home at Dhaka's Baridhara DOHS by a team of detectives.
He previously served as general officer commanding (GOC) of 9 Infantry Division in Savar during the state of emergency declared on January 11, 2007.
Later, he was appointed chief coordinator of the National Coordination Committee on Serious Crimes and Corruption, promoted to lieutenant general, and posted to the National Defence College on June 2, 2008.
He was transferred to the foreign ministry and appointed to the Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra on June 8, 2008.
