15 army officers sent to cantonment sub-jail

International Crimes Tribunal-1 has sent 15 current and former army officers to jail in three cases filed over enforced disappearances, killings and other crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Awami League government's tenure.

They have been sent to a sub-jail inside Dhaka Cantonment under heavy security.

Earlier on Wednesday morning (22 October), the International Crimes Tribunal-1 passed the order.

Lawyer, Major (Retd) Barrister M Sarwar Hossain, said they will be kept in the cantonment sub-jail for the time being.

Earlier, the officers, who were in the custody of the Bangladesh Army, were brought to the tribunal around 7:00am and produced before the ICT-1 amid tight security.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), and police were deployed in and around the court premises. They were transported in a green, air-conditioned special prison van.

The officers are: Maj Gen Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossen; Brigadier Generals Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostofa Sarwar, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahbub Alam, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddique and Ahmed Tanvir Majahar Siddique; Colonels Anowar Latif Khan, AKM Azad, Abdullah Al Momen and Md Sarwar Bin Kashem; Lieutenant Colonels Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, Saiful Islam Sumon and Mohammad Redowanul Islam; and Major Rafat Bin Alam Moon.

The government had designated a building of the Military Engineer Services (MES) in Dhaka Cantonment as a temporary jail. According to a gazette notification issued by the home ministry on October 12, MES Building No 54, located north of Bashar Road, had been declared as a temporary jail under the provisions of the Prisoners Act, 1984.