A retired Bangladesh Army major on Sunday gave chilling testimony before International Crimes Tribunal-1, alleging that former army officer Ziaul Ahsan executed three blindfolded detainees at separate locations on the very night he joined the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in 2011.

Khondkar Mohammad Sajjadul Islam, a retired major who took voluntary retirement from the army in 2013, told the tribunal that within hours of reporting for duty at RAB, he witnessed Ziaul Ahsan shoot a blindfolded detainee in the back of the head before throwing the body off a bridge.

The testimony was heard before a three-member bench of International Crimes Tribunal-1 headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder.

Commissioned through the 26th Bangladesh Military Academy Long Course in 1992, Sajjadul said he was transferred to RAB by government order and joined the force's headquarters as a major on July 5, 2011. 

After six days of orientation and meetings with senior officers, including then Director of Intelligence Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, he was posted to RAB-3 on July 11.

After reporting to RAB-3 around noon that day, he met Commanding Officer Lt Col Rafiqul Islam, who informed him that he would have to participate in a night-time operation on the instructions of Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan.

According to his testimony, at around 11pm, he, Lt Col Rafiqul, Major Tarikul and another officer, all in plain clothes, assembled at the gate of RAB headquarters, where three additional vehicles joined their convoy.

The convoy crossed the Ahsanullah Master Flyover in Tongi, took a U-turn and entered a deserted road before stopping on a bridge after travelling for about 40 to 45 minutes.

"Everyone got out of the vehicles. A blindfolded and handcuffed detainee was brought out. Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan positioned him against the bridge railing, shot him in the back of the head and threw him over the railing," Sajjadul testified.

"Having joined RAB only a few hours earlier, I was utterly terrified and stunned by what I witnessed."

He told the tribunal that the convoy then proceeded to a second bridge, where Ziaul Ahsan instructed him to conduct what was described as an "anti-terrorism operation."

"I asked him, 'Sir, what is an anti-terrorism operation? Who are the terrorists?' Immediately he flew into a rage. In front of six or seven officers, he shouted, 'You bloody coward officer, stupid!'" Sajjadul said.

"I respectfully replied that unless I understood the nature of the task and was satisfied that it was lawful, I could not take part. He became even angrier and ordered me, 'You bloody go and sit inside the vehicle! I will deal with your case separately.'"

Sajjadul said he feared he would either be killed in a staged "crossfire" or summarily dismissed. Trembling with fear, he returned to the vehicle. Eight to ten minutes later, he heard gunshots. The other officers returned without the second detainee.

He further testified that the convoy later stopped beside a bamboo grove, where he saw two or three personnel dragging another blindfolded man across the road. About ten minutes later, they returned without him.

"That night, Ziaul Ahsan killed three people at three different locations," he told the tribunal.

After the operation ended late at night, Sajjadul said he was dropped off on Staff Road inside Dhaka Cantonment and returned home in a state of severe psychological shock.

The following morning, while on his way to work, he learned that he had been transferred out of RAB and back to the Bangladesh Army with immediate effect. Breaking with established practice, he said, he was not posted to Army Headquarters but was instead ordered to report directly to the Ordnance Depot in Comilla Cantonment.

Three to four days later, he said, the national daily Prothom Alo published a report that three bullet-riddled bodies had been recovered from the Gazipur and Joydebpur areas.

Sajjadul testified that after refusing what he believed were unlawful and illegal orders, he was labelled an "unreliable and disobedient officer" within the army. 

Despite what he described as a promising career, his promotions were allegedly blocked, and with 12 years of service still remaining, he was ultimately compelled to take voluntary retirement from the Bangladesh Army in 2013.

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