Victims of enforced disappearance disposed of near railway tracks, rivers: witness

Bodies of victims of enforced disappearance were disposed of near railway tracks and in rivers, a prosecution witness told the International Crimes Tribunal-1. The witness, Nur-e-Alam, a former Chhatra Dal leader from Nilphamari, made these allegations while testifying in a case concerning the enforced disappearance and illegal confinement of 24 people.

Nur-e-Alam recounted his own ordeal, stating that a group of men abducted him from his home on April 13, 2016. Handcuffed and blindfolded, he was taken to a secret facility where he was repeatedly interrogated about his political affiliations and social media posts critical of the government and India. During one interrogation, an unidentified official allegedly told him, “The bodies found beside railway tracks, rivers and in sacks -- we do it…,” before beating him. He also alleged that a female interrogator suspended him and beat him from the waist down.

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The bodies found beside railway tracks, rivers and in sacks -- we do it…

He described spending over 50 days in detention across two facilities, believing one to be near Dhaka Cantonment. Despite suffering injuries and illness, he received no medical treatment. He saw pleas for rescue, dates, and phone numbers scrawled on his cell walls. Separately, in a crimes against humanity case, garment truck driver Samrat Hossain testified that he lost vision in his right eye after being shot during a protest in Narayanganj on July 19. He stated that around 40 pellets lodged in his body, including his eyes and head, after Shamim Osman, his son, nephew, and activists opened fire on protesters.

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I cannot see with my right eye, and have difficulty seeing with my left eye.