A prosecution witness told the International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday that former RAB officer Ziaul Ahsan personally shot detainees after they were taken blindfolded and handcuffed onto a trawler in the Baleshwar River.
In his deposition, witness Abbas Mallik, a boatman in Barguna, said that on days when raids were carried out in the area, two RAB members in plain clothes would visit local shops in the afternoon. They would instruct shopkeepers to close their shops and switch off the lights after evening.
Mallik, who claimed to have been engaged by RAB to carry detainees, said four to five RAB microbuses would then arrive in front of the ice mill between 11:00pm and midnight. Detainees were brought from Dhaka with their eyes and hands tied and taken onto a trawler.
He said RAB members would carry ropes and sacks of cement with them when the boat left.
The witness said the trawler would travel through the Baleshwar River towards deeper waters. Once it reached deep water, its speed would be reduced and the blindfolded and handcuffed detainees would be brought out.
‘Two RAB members would hold a detainee tightly against the supports on either side of the trawler,’ Mallik told the tribunal.
He said Ziaul Ahsan would then come forward and personally shoot the detainee in the head, ear or chest.
Ziaul Ahsan, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity, was produced at the tribunal compound in handcuffs in the morning and later brought before the judges during the testimony.
