19 June 2013: ICT-2 Daily Summary – Alim Examination-in-Chief of PW 26

 Today the Tribunal heard matters in the following cases:

  1. Chief Prosecutor vs. Abdul Alim

The Prosecution called Prosecution witness 26 to testify in the case against Abdul Alim. The witness’s testimony supports Charge 2 against the Accused. Prosecutor Rana Das Gupta conducted the examination-in-chief.

Examination-in-Chief of PW 26
The witness, Jogen Chandra Pal, stated that he is the son of the late Lolit Chandra Pal. He studied up to Class 3, and was around 23-24 years old during the war of liberation in 1971.

On a Monday in the 3rd week of the month of Boishakh in the Bengali calendar, in the year 1971, at around 12-12:30 pm, the witness heard people shouting. The witness was in his own house, and heard the sound coming from Kadipur village. He then heard that Alim’s Peace Committee members and Pakistan Army came to Kadipur village. Upon hearing the shouting, everyone in his village ran. The witness does not know where they went.

The witness testified that he then went 2-3 bigha (a local land measurement) east of his house, and saw some people carrying flags with the symbol of the moon and star on it. The witness wondered whether they were members of Alim’s Peace Committee. The witness then hid in a graveyard that had bushes in it. From there, he saw that Alim’s Peace Committee members were beating people and bringing them towards Dom Pukur, a pond. The witness testified that gunshots, arson and looting were going on in all directions. The witness became very afraid, and hid under the bush.  After half an hour, he came out from hiding and saw numerous dead bodies full of blood and clay. He only recognized two dead bodies. The witness started to cry aloud at this point in his testimony.

The witness then stated that he went to India, and came back after the war ended. Upon his return, he found nothing in his house. Those who presumably took the witness’s belongings told him that they could not keep any of the looted things, as Alim’s men came and asked everyone to submit to them all of the looted things. Hence, they gave them to Alim’s rice mill.

The witness concluded by stating that around 370 people had been killed on that horrendous day.