Ex-Major Mozaffar Hossain, arrested last week over the assassination of martyred President Ziaur Rahman, was brought before Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday after prosecutors linked him to an ongoing crimes against humanity case over the July Uprising.
"The prosecution applied to produce Mozaffar in the crimes against humanity case after obtaining evidence of his communication with Masud," ICT Prosecutor Tanvir Joha told Daily Waadaa.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam said investigators have gathered information showing that Mozaffar had been in contact with Masud on various occasions.
"Based on the findings, we sought to have him produced before the tribunal," Aminul said.
The tribunal ordered on 21 July that Mozaffar be produced before it on Thursday.
According to tribunal records, Masud served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army's Ninth Infantry Division in 2007 and later coordinated the National Coordination Committee on Serious Crimes following the political changeover known as the "1/11" period. He was appointed Bangladesh's High Commissioner to Australia in 2008 and remained in the post until 2011. In 2018, he joined the Jatiya Party and was elected to parliament from the Feni-3 constituency.
Separately, Home Affairs Adviser Salahuddin Ahmed said last Monday that Mozaffar will face trial under the Army Act through a General Court Martial.
"He had remained in hiding in a neighbouring country under a false identity for many years. Based on intelligence information, he was arrested and handed over to the Bangladesh Army for trial under the Army Act," Salahuddin told a press conference in Dhaka.
Mozaffar had been a fugitive for 45 years before being arrested from a house in Dhaka's Banani area on 15 July. He was handed over to the Military Police at Dhaka Cantonment the following day.
The prosecution has not publicly disclosed the specific allegations linking Mozaffar to the crimes against humanity investigation beyond citing his alleged communication with Masud.