Sukharanjan Bali, a witness in a crimes against humanity case against late Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, has filed allegations with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) against 32 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
He submitted the allegations to the office of the ICT chief prosecutor on Thursday morning.
Apart from Sheikh Hasina, other accused in the allegations are former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, former chairmen of ICT-1 Justice Nizamul Haque and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, former law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed, former state minister for law Advocate Qamrul Islam, former ICT chief prosecutor Syed Haider Ali, former prosecutor Rana Das Gupta, former coordinator of the ICT investigation agency Md Sanaul Haque, former ICT investigation officer Helal Uddin, and former lawmaker of Pirojpur-1 constituency AKM Abdul Awal.
Sukharanjan, a carpenter from village Umedpur under Parerhat union in Indurkani upazila of Pirojpur, was one of the key witnesses in the crimes against humanity case filed against Jamaat-e-Islami leader late Delwar Hossain Sayedee. He alleged that law-enforcing agencies picked him up on November 5, 2012, from outside the tribunal premises while he was being escorted by defence lawyers to testify.
Sukhranjan said he had earlier been summoned by ICT investigation officer Helal Uddin around July-August 2010, at Rajlaxmi School in Parerhat of Pirojpur, where he was allegedly pressured to give false testimony against Sayedee in the 1971 killing of his brother Bishabali (Bisheshwar Bali).
Sukharanjan alleged that as he refused to give false testimony, Helal Uddin started assaulting him physically. Later, local political leaders and their followers also beat and threatened him, forcing him to go into hiding afterwards.
According to Sukharanjan, months later Sayedee’s son, Masud Sayedee, contacted him to testify truthfully before the tribunal. He came to Dhaka on November 3, 2012, but two days later, he was abducted by plainclothes men from outside the tribunal gate.
Sukharanjan alleged that they blindfolded him, kept him in different places, and tortured him for two months before handing him over to the Indian frontier force BSF. Later, BSF took him to their camp at Boikari Bazar in West Bengal.
He also said he was later sent to Bashirhat Jail for 22 days, then shifted to Dumdum Jail where he remained confined for five years. The victim said he had to endure the ordeal only because he was willing to tell the truth.
Meanwhile, on February 28, 2013, the then Criminal Tribunal sentenced Sayedee to death. Following an appeal, the Appellate Division on September 17, 2014 sentence Sayedee to life imprisonment. He has been in prison since then. He died on August 14, 2023 while undergoing treatment at Dhaka’s Bangladesh Medical University Hospital.
Sukharanjan Bali said, “I want justice for all the injustices that have happened to me, including my abduction, disappearance and illegal imprisonment for 5 years under the auspices of the state.”