Case filed over 127 Hindus killed in 1971 in Bangladesh

DHAKA - Nearly 40 years after 127 Hindus were killed in a village in northern Bangladesh by a group of Islamist militants during the 1971 freedom movement, a case has been filed demanding the perpetrators of the carnage be booked.

According to complainant Haridas Roy, the incident took place Sep 28, 1971 in Krishnapur village of Lakhai sub-district.

Roy was among the 128 people picked up that day. Pakistan Army personnel took them to the nearby field, lined them up and gunned them down. Roy says he had a miraculous escape.

He has named Liakat Ali, a former Razakar - the group of militants who aided the Pakistan Army - who is now sub-district unit chief of the ruling Awami League in Lakhai in Habiganj district, and seven others for allegedly aiding the Pakistan Army that day.

The Awami League led the freedom movement and its government is currently preparing to hold war crimes trials to bring to book those who killed unarmed civilians 39 years ago.

Accepting the case, the judicial magistrate asked the officer in charge of Lakhai Police Station to submit a report to the court after proper investigation, The Daily Star said Friday.

The new case is among a series being revived or filed afresh across the country as the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sets in motion the judicial and investigative machinery to try hundreds of war criminals.

Many escaped to Pakistan and Bangladesh says that Islamabad should hold its own trials.

Pakistan’s envoy last week declined to comment, saying this was Bangladesh’s internal matter.