The present government has initiated formal procedures to bring all the six fugitive killers of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman back.
The initiative also includes the process of confiscating properties of all the killers.
However, according to latest information, locations of only two among six fugitive killers could be determined so far. Of the two killers, Rashed Chowdhury is staying in the United States and Noor Chowdhury is in Canada who sought asylum. But the whereabouts of four other killers--Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, Abdul Mazed, and Moslehuddin Khan--are yet to be determined.
Officials of the Special Branch of Bangladesh Police and the Dhaka Desk of the Interpol said, they are keeping continuous contacts with the police and intelligence of all the 193 countries to locate the fugitive killers as well as to know their latest positions.
The government officials said, they are hopeful of bringing back AM Rashed Chowdhury back. But the process to bring MB Noor Chowdhury back is difficult as Canada does not support the capital punishment act. The sources said, the government is trying in both diplomatic and legal ways to bring them back.
On Thursday, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said diplomatic efforts have been strengthen for bringing the fugitive killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman back to Bangladesh so that the murderers get their deserved punishment.
“The government has strengthened its diplomatic efforts to pave the way for bringing back the killers of Bangabandhu who remain fugitive and have taken shelter in different countries,” he said.
Md Shahrier Alam, State Minister for Foreign Ministry last week said that he was hopeful about bringing Rashed Chowdhury back from USA. He also said that filing of a case in a Canadian court is in progress to bring Noor Chowdhury back home.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, also Road Transport and Bridges Minister, on Thursday said, diplomatic moves are on to bring all the fugitive killers back. He made the remarks after paying homage to the family members of Bangabandhu, who were killed on August 15 in 1975, at Banani Graveyard.
Earlier on January 27 in 2010, five of the 12 convicts--Syed Farooq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, and Mohiuddin Ahmed -- were hanged. Another convict, Aziz Pasha, met a natural death in Zimbabwe in 2001.
But, six other killers--Rashed Chowdhury, Noor Chowdhury, Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, Abdul Mazed, and Moslehuddin Khan are still at large.
The tragedy is that three and a half years after the independence of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu was assassinated along with most of his family members on Aug 15, 1975, by a group of army officers at his residence in Dhanmondi.
Their trial was stopped through an Indemnity Ordinance, which saved the self-proclaimed killers. The ordinance was abrogated in November 1996 when the Awami League returned to power, paving the way to bringing the killers to justice.
But the case proceedings came to a near halt after the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition formed government took power in 2001. The Awami League returned to power in 2009 and restarted the trial.
On the other hand, the government already confiscated all the properties two of the fugitive killers-- AM Rashed Chowdhury and Lt Col (Redt) Khandaker Abdur Rashid. The process to confiscate properties of other killers is on, said the government official sources.
According to information received, the local administration on March 08 in 2015 confiscated the properties of AM Rashed Chowdhury, one of the fugitive killers of Bangabandhu, in Hajiganj upazila of Chandpur district. A government taskforce was formed to deal with the fugitive killers of Bangabandhu and ordered the home ministry to forfeit the land of the retired Lt Col.
Earlier, on April 20, 2014, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the police to seize assets of killer Lt Col MA Rashed Chowdhury. The Home Ministry ordered police to confiscate killer AM Rashed Chowdhury following a decision taken by the taskforce formed to deal with the convicted fugitive killers of the nation’s independence hero.
Besides, all the properties of Lt Col (Redt) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, another killer of Bangabandhu, were also confiscated. A total of 17 acres of his land was confiscated by the government in two phases. In the first phase, 10.82 acres of his land was confiscated following a court order on December 19 in 1996 and in second phase, more 6.12 acres of his land was confiscated on June 14 in 2015.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Jun 15 in 2017 told the parliament that the process to confiscate the assets and freeze the bank accounts of the killers of the founding father was on.
In September of 2016, the parliament passed the motion to confiscate all assets of those convicted of the assassination and 1971 war crimes.
