Tribunal orders production of Ziaur Rahman murder accused Mozaffar before it
Major (retd.) Mozaffar Hossain, an accused in the assassination case of martyred President Ziaur Rahman. Collected photo.
The International Crimes Tribunal has ordered the production of Major (retd.) Mozaffar Hossain, an accused in the assassination case of martyred President Ziaur Rahman, before it on July 23.
The order was passed on Tuesday by the International Crimes Tribunal-2. Its chief prosecutor Md. Aminul Islam did file the application for his production.
The Chief Prosecutor said that Mozaffar Hossain had close ties with Masud Uddin Chowdhury and used to travel to India. He is also implicated in crimes against humanity, and an investigation against him is ongoing. Therefore, an application was submitted to the tribunal to produce him to show him as arrested in the tribunal's case. The tribunal granted that application.
On the morning of May 30, 1981, a group of rogue military officers attacked the then Circuit House in Chittagong and assassinated the erstwhile President Ziaur Rahman. Among the military officers directly involved in the killing were Major Mozaffar Hossain and Captain Mosleh Uddin.
According to various historical and case-related accounts and documents, the erstwhile Major Mozaffar Hossain was the one who first identified President Ziaur Rahman and fired from close range. After confirming his death, he telephoned the then GOC of the 24th Infantry Division in Chittagong Cantonment, Major General Abul Manzur, and informed him, "The President has been killed".
Following the assassination, when the army brought the situation under control, erstwhile Major General Abul Manzur and several others were arrested, and Manzur was later killed. Captain Mosleh Uddin was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. At that time, Major Mozaffar Hossain and the then Major S.M. Khalid, however, managed to flee.
Mozaffar Hossain, who had been on the run for approximately 45 years, was arrested on the night of July 15 from a house in Dhaka's Banani area. He was subsequently handed over to the Dhaka Cantonment Military Police.
