Mobarak Hossain, a local commander of the infamous Razakar Bahini formed by the Pakistan Army in 1971 to resist Bangladesh’s independence, has been sentenced to death for war crimes. The International Crimes Tribunal-1, headed by Justice M. Enayetur Rahim, announced the verdict on Monday.
The 64-year-old Razakar commander from Brahmanbaria, adjacent to India’s Tripura State, got death for the killing of 33 civilians on the banks of Ganga Sagar Dighi at Akhaurha’s Tanmandayl village on August 22, 1971. All the 33 people were made to dig waist-deep ditches where they were buried after being shot dead. He was also awarded life imprisonment on charges of abduction and murder of civilians.
The convict was a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971 and after. He, however, changed sides by joining the present ruling Awami League and was the organising secretary of the ruling party’s unit in Akahura’s Mogra Union until he was expelled in 2011.
The convict, along with other members of the Razakar Bahini , had captured a famous Hindu temple, Anandomoyee Kalibarhi , in Brahmanbaria and renamed it Razakar Manzil . The temple, where hundreds of people were confined and tortured, was looted and idols defaced.
The defence said they will appeal the tribunal’s decision.
