Bound hands, a black cap pulled over the head, and a drop into the hold of a fishing trawler heading out into deep waters.
A bamboo pole measuring the depth of the estuary, cement bags weighted to the neck and ankles, a single bullet through a cushion to the head, and a slit stomach verified by hand before the body is dumped into the river.
This chilling sequence of extrajudicial killing, known internally as a “Golf” operation, was detailed before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Thursday, by eyewitness retired Major Md Sabbir Rahman Osmany.
Testifying against Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan – former director of the then Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence Wing, accused of over 100 enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during the fallen Awami regime – Sabbir provided an account of multiple executions and staged “encounters” in the Sundarbans.
From military service to RAB-8
Sabbir Rahman Osmany, 54, a resident of Khalishpur in Khulna who currently works as deputy controller of examinations at the Bangladesh Army University of Science and Technology, Khulna, outlined his military and law enforcement career during his deposition.
Commissioned into the Armoured Corps via the 28th BMA Long Course on 18 June 1993, he was transferred to RAB in September 2009 as a major after 16 years of service.
Initially assigned as Company Commander of Dhanmondi Company under RAB-2, he was posted to Barishal in October 2009 as second-in-command (deputy commander) of RAB-8.
At the time, Hassan Mahmood Khandker served as director general of RAB, Colonel Motiur Rahman as ADG (Operations), and Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan as director of the Intelligence Wing.
Although Sabbir’s primary responsibility at RAB-8 involved administrative oversight, Ziaul Ahsan frequently issued direct instructions to the RAB-8 commanding officer (CO) and phoned Sabbir directly for operational matters.
In January 2010, Ziaul Ahsan arrived at RAB-8 headquarters at night in an official vehicle accompanied by a microbus from the Intelligence Wing.
Instructing the CO and Sabbir to accompany him without an operational team, they drove two and a half hours to Charduani Ghat in Patharghata, where Intelligence Wing members attached to RAB-8 had prepped a trawler.
The first ‘golf’ execution
A man with tied hands and a black cap was loaded into the vessel’s fish hold. As the trawler headed from the Charduani canal towards the estuary, Ziaul ordered Sabbir to measure the water depth using a bamboo pole.
After three hours of travel, four Intelligence Wing operatives brought the detainee onto the deck: the first tied cement-filled bags to his neck and legs; the second held a small pillow against his head and fired a single pistol shot; the third sliced open his abdomen; and the fourth inserted a hand into the cut to confirm proper slitting.
Ziaul then instructed the helmsman to increase engine RPM to drown out the noise before the weighted body was thrown into the water.
On the quiet return journey to Barishal, Ziaul broke the silence, stating that these people are harmful to the state, it is better if they do not exist, and adding that this is how they have to be “Golfed.”
This marked Sabbir’s first introduction to the term. When Sabbir later questioned his CO about their involvement, the CO expressed helplessness but promised to discuss it with RAB headquarters.
Four victims and the Baleshwar River incident
A second “Golf” operation occurred in May 2010. Arriving at RAB-8 headquarters with two microbuses, an Intelligence Wing member doused all office lights before Zia, the CO, and Sabbir departed for Charduani Ghat.
Four bound, hooded detainees were placed into the fish hold. Navigating rough weather and heavy pitching in the estuary, the four men were brought onto the deck one by one, shot in the head through a cushion, had their stomach sliced, and were thrown overboard with cement bags.
Operatives faced noticeable difficulty extracting the fourth man, who was particularly well-built.
Two to three days later, intelligence sources revealed that a hooded, stomach-cut body weighted with cement bags had surfaced in the Baleshwar River in the Sharankhola Range.
Suspecting it was one of the victims, Sabbir notified Zia, who directed him not to include the incident in the operational report. Months later, DNA testing conducted by BGB intelligence identified the deceased as former BGB member Nazrul.
Elimination of boatman Alkas Majhi
In June 2011, Ziaul inquired about boatman Alkas Majhi, who operated boats for “Golf” operations under the management of the RAB-8 Intelligence Wing.
Expressing annoyance that Alkas was discussing “Golf” operations at Charduani market and creating a security risk, Ziaul ordered Sabbir to “eliminate” him.
Sabbir pleaded illness to be excused, leading Ziaul to drop the demand. Roughly a week later, Alkas’s family visited RAB-8 headquarters, reporting that Alkas had gone missing after leaving home following a phone call claiming Ziaul had summoned him.
Understanding his fate, the officers offered financial assistance to the family.
Staged encounters in the Sundarbans
Sabbir also recounted three staged “encounter” operations in the Sundarbans. During the Nishankhali operation in November 2011, conducted jointly by RAB, the Coast Guard, and the Forest Department against the Raju pirate gang, an advanced Intelligence Wing team was deployed the night before.
At dawn, a whistle signal from within the forest – a pre-arranged code from the advance team – prompted Ziaul to order heavy firing into the woods.
Although two bodies were initially recovered, four additional corpses previously brought to the site by the advance team were shot on Zia’s instructions and added to the official record, bringing the death toll to six.
Commander Sohail, the then director of RAB’s Legal and Media Wing, accompanied press members at the scene.
In the Kotka operation in February 2012, jointly led by RAB-8 and RAB-6, Ziaul took Sabbir to Charduani prior to the main operation, where four hooded men were executed at sea using the “Golf” method.
Upon arriving at Kotka forest station at dawn, firing commenced, after which Ziaul led a fifth bound detainee from the hold into the forest alongside two operatives. A single gunshot followed, after which Ziaul returned, and police later recovered four bodies from the forest, including one unidentified corpse believed to be the fifth detainee.
In March 2012, a “three-dimensional” operation near the Bhola River at Mara Bhola saw an advance team deployed overnight. Following helicopter reconnaissance and gunfire from within the woods, 30 minutes of heavy firing yielded five recovered bodies.
Senior officers, including ADG (Operations) Colonel Mujib and Commander Sohail, escorted journalists wearing bulletproof jackets around the scene.
Patterns of a system ‘without control’
Explaining why he considered these encounters staged, Sabbir cited the unneeded advance deployment of intelligence teams, whistle signals and automatic weapon fire from the forest despite pirates only possessing single- or double-barrelled guns, and video footage showing senior RAB officers walking casually in plain clothes without armour or helmets while firing was allegedly ongoing.
Sabbir noted a fixed pattern to “Golf” operations – victim identities were known solely to Ziaul, detainees were transported barefoot and concealed, and execution materials such as black caps, cement bags, ropes, and catapults were prepared by the Intelligence Wing. He estimated that Ziaul Ahsan conducted 15 to 20 such “Golf” operations in the Barishal region.
Describing Ziaul as an “uncontrolled figure” within RAB whom superiors failed to restrain, Sabbir said he applied for voluntary retirement after completing 18 years of service due to mental distress, eventually proceeding on LPR in March 2014.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam, along with Prosecutors Gazi MH Tamim, Farooq Ahammad, Shaykh Mahdi, and Abdus Sattar Palwan, were present during the hearing.
