Shapla Chattar killings: ICT moves to issue Interpol Red Notice against ex-BGB chief Aziz
The prosecution learned Aziz Ahmed had fled to the Middle East or some other country, expressing confidence that he could be brought back to face trial
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has initiated steps to issue a Red Notice through Interpol against former Bangladesh Army chief and then director general of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Gen (retd) Aziz Ahmed in a crimes against humanity case filed over the 2013 Shapla Chattar crackdown in Motijheel and subsequent shootings in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj.
The tribunal sent a letter signed by Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam to the inspector general of police (IGP) and the additional IGP leading the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) at Bangladesh Police Headquarters, requesting necessary measures under Interpol regulations to issue the Red Notice against Aziz.
Briefing reporters last night (17 August), the ICT chief prosecutor stated that this marks the first initiative to bring back an absconding accused through Interpol in the Shapla Chattar case.
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He added that the prosecution learned Aziz had fled to the Middle East or some other country, expressing confidence that he could be brought back to face trial.
He said similar extradition measures would be taken gradually for other fugitive accused in the case who are currently abroad.
The case stems from the 5 May 2013 violence surrounding a rally of Hefazat-e-Islam at Motijheel's Shapla Chattar and state-sponsored operations the following day in Siddhirganj.
According to the tribunal's investigation body, 58 people were killed across four locations, including 32 deaths recorded in Dhaka, 20 in Narayanganj, five in Chattogram, and one in Cumilla.
On 27 July this year, the ICT took cognisance of formal charges brought against 41 individuals -- including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed during the 2024 July Uprising -- alleging crimes against humanity over the deadly operation.
Besides Hasina and Aziz, the other accused include former home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, former state minister for home affairs Shamsul Hoque Tuku, former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu, Awami League Presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, former food minister Abdur Razzaque, Awami League Joint General Secretaries Mahbubul Alam Hanif, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, and Jahangir Kabir Nanak, former information minister Hasan Mahmud, former ministers Abdul Latif Siddique, Dipu Moni, and Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, former state minister Mrinal Kanti Das, former Jubo League chief Omar Faruk Chowdhury, former MP Salauddin Mahmud, and Gonojagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarker.
The charge sheet also names several former police chiefs, including Hasan Mahmud Khandker, AKM Shahidul Hoque, Mohammad Javed Patwary, and Benazir Ahmed, along with former RAB officials and journalists, including Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shahriar Kabir, former Ekattor TV managing director Mozammel Haque Babu, and its former chief reporter Farzana Rupa.
During proceedings on 16 August, a three-member ICT-2 bench headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury ordered Inu and Razzaque to be produced before the tribunal on 3 September, while fixing the same date for law enforcement agencies to submit non-execution reports on outstanding arrest warrants.
Nine arrested accused -- including Dipu Moni, Tuku, Latif Siddiqui, Maj Gen (retd) Ziaul Ahsan, Shahidul, Shahriar, Abdul Jalil Mondal, Rupa, and Babu -- were produced before the tribunal that morning, while arrest warrants remain active against 31 fugitive accused.
