In the last 15 years, almost 600 people have been victims of enforced disappearances. It has been revealed that the mastermind behind these crimes was the former IGP Benazir Ahmed while the former RAB officer Ziaul Ahsan and DB head Harun-or-Rashid were the coordinators of these abductions.
A separate team was formed for this task. DB, RAB-1, RAB-2, and DGFI were involved in this, especially RAB.
The “Commission of Inquiry” is working to find out those who were involved in these abductions. Already they have gathered several names.
An official monitoring the situation noted that many involved in the disappearances are now attempting to present themselves as innocent. However, this is futile. Former RAB officer Ziaul Ahsan has already claimed in court that he was not involved in the abductions, as reported in the media.
“When the investigation is done, those who are guilty and those who are innocent will be revealed,” said the official.
Sources tell that Benazir Ahmed served as the DMP Commissioner, Director General of RAB, and also the IGP of RAB during the Awami era. Former Prime Minister trusted him and he would do anything Hasina told him to do. The names of the individuals to be abducted were presented to Benazir Ahmed, who then discussed the matter with Ziaul Ahsan and other officials before deploying a team to carry out the abduction. The highest number of enforced disappearances occurred under Benazir.
Nasir Uddin, Director of Odhikar which is a human rights organization, has stated that they are working on this issue of abduction and enforced disappearances. However, they still don’t who were involved in these crimes as these crimes were conducted by "plainclothes men", meaning it was impossible to determine their identity. Personnel from the DGFI would introduce themselves as members of other agencies, making it difficult for victims to identify the perpetrators.
However, he is still hopeful that they will be able to identify them eventually.
It has been reported that most enforced disappearances occurred through Benazir Ahmed, who was a trusted figure of Sheikh Hasina. Ziaul Ahsan, being a military officer, coordinated with officials from the DGFI and RAB.
Sources tell that team members of DB, RAB-1, and RAB-2 were extremely skilled. Seven to eight members used to work under a single officer and in total, there were almost 200 officers and members who were involved in this. When the former DB Chief Harun was the DC of Lalbag Zone, he was involved in some of these enforced disappearances. Messages would be sent from the former Prime Minister's office to Benazir Ahmed, who would then direct RAB, DB, and DGFI officials to implement Hasina’s diabolical orders.
What the Inquiry Commission is doing
On August 27, the Cabinet Division formed a "Commission of Inquiry" regarding enforced disappearances by order of the President. The interim government formed it in order to investigate whether any individuals were disappeared by members of law enforcement agencies, including the police, RAB, BGB, CID, SB, DB, Ansar Battalion, National Security Intelligence (NSI), Armed Forces, Directorate General of Defence Intelligence (DGFI), and the Coast Guard, from January 1, 2010, to August 5 of this year.
On September 12, the commission issued a public notice seeking information on the disappeared individuals. Additionally, the commission inspected “Aynaghor” and is collecting names and addresses of the officials involved in the disappearances.
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