BNP leader Ilias Ali was murdered after enforced disappearance: Chief Prosecutor

International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said on Wednesday that BNP leader M Ilias Ali was killed after being forcibly disappeared 13 years ago, citing a findings from an ongoing investigation.

Speaking to journalists after submitting formal charges at the tribunal against retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan over allegations of enforced disappearances and killings, Tajul Islam said investigators had gathered information indicating that Ilias Ali was abducted from the street and later murdered.

Ziaul Ahsan, a former senior Rapid Action Battalion officer, is accused of involvement in the enforced disappearance and killing of more than 100 people.

Ilias Ali, the BNP’s former organising secretary and a two-time lawmaker from Sylhet-2, went missing in April 2012 after being picked up near his residence in Dhaka’s Banani area. He was never found.

Following the fall of Awami League government facing last mass uprising, the interim government reconstituted the International Crimes Tribunal and began probing alleged enforced disappearances during the previous administration.

Ziaul Ahsan, once an additional director general of RAB, has long been accused of playing a key role in such cases. After the change in government, Ziaul was dismissed from military service and arrested.

Tajul Islam said tribunal investigators had found evidence linking him to the enforced disappearance of Ilias Ali and others. “The investigation shows that Ilias Ali was abducted from the street, forcibly disappeared and later killed,” he said.

The chief prosecutor also alleged that Ziaul Ahsan was behind the enforced disappearance of BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed in 2015, who was later found in India, and that he directly supervised the abduction of eight people, including BNP leader Sajidul Islam Sumon, from Dhaka’s Tejgaon area in 2013.

During the Awami League’s time in power, allegations of enforced disappearances of opposition figures, including Ilias Ali, were repeatedly raised against state agencies. Domestic and international human rights groups voiced concern, but authorities denied the claims, with then prime minister Sheikh Hasina and other party leaders dismissing them as fabricated.

Tajul Islam further said Ziaul Ahsan was also implicated in planning several other high-profile disappearances, including those of Islami Chhatra Shibir leader Golam Kibria Mihin, Hafez Zakir and Chowdhury Alam. He added that prosecutors had received information suggesting as many as 500 people may have been killed following enforced disappearances.

After the prosecution placed formal charges, the tribunal took cognisance of the case against Ziaul Ahsan.