India behind ‘enforced disappearances’ of Bangladeshis during Hasina regime? Panel reveals shocking details

Was India involved “enforced disappearances” of some Bangladeshis during Sheikh Hasina’s regime? An inquiry panel has found some shocking details regarding Indian involvement in the incidents of “enforced disappearances”, requesting the government to identify any Bangladeshi citizens who may still remain incarcerated in India.

An inquiry commission formed by Bangladesh’s interim government said it has found India’s “involvement” in incidents of “enforced disappearances” during deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime. The panel estimated that over 3,500 cases of enforced disappearances may have occurred.

Quoting the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance, the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) said, “The Indian involvement in Bangladesh’s system of enforced disappearances is a matter of public record.”

The five-member commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Mainul Islam Chowdhury, mentioned that there was a “persistent suggestion in law enforcement circles” that some prisoners might still be languishing in Indian jails. Also Read | Is Sheikh Hasina returning to Bangladesh? War crimes tribunal gears up to seek extradition from India

“We recommend the Ministries of Foreign and Home to extend their best efforts to identify any Bangladeshi citizens who may still remain incarcerated in India. It is beyond the jurisdiction of the commission to follow this trail outside Bangladesh,” the commission said.

WHAT DID PANEL REVEAL?

The commission revealed intelligence indicating the practice of prisoner exchanges between India and Bangladesh, shedding light on the possible fate of the detainees, citing “two highly publicised cases that provide valuable insights into how such operations were carried out.”

The commission also cited examples of Shukhranjan Bali and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Salahuddin Ahmed. Shukhranjan Bali was abducted “from the Bangladesh Supreme Court premises and resurfaced subsequently in an Indian jail”.

The commission said BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed’s case “exemplifies certain practices of the Bangladesh-India rendition system”. Also Read | ‘Be mindful’: India lodges protest after Bangladesh leader Yunus’ aide makes controversial remarks on Sheikh Hasina

It said that while hiding at a house in Dhaka’s Uttara area in 2015, he recounted being imprisoned “in a barren cell, where a hole in the ground served as a toilet”.

“The blanket provided to him bore the letters “TFI”, indicative of “Task Force for Interrogation,” it added.

During that period, the commission said the “only operational TFI centre that they knew of was managed by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence Wing working under the aegis of RAB Headquarters”.

The commission said that since then, they visited this location and confirmed that RAB Intelligence Wing still controls access to it. “However, the interior of the facility was thoroughly decimated some time ago,” the news report said quoting the commission.

Last week, the five-member commission submitted an interim report titled “Unfolding The Truth” to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Sheikh Hasina, 77, fled to India on August 5 after unprecedented anti-government protests. The student-led Monsoon Revolution under the banner of “Students Against Discrimination” succeeded in toppling Hasina’s 16-year regime, propelled by fervent demands for change and accountability.

The chief adviser’s press wing had claimed the commission also found the involvement of the deposed prime minister’s now absconding defence adviser, retired major general Tarique Ahmed Siddique, a now sacked major general and two senior police officers and several other senior officials in the cases of enforced disappearance.

‘PICK-UP, TORTURE’

The news report said that police’s elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which draws men from army, navy, air force and regular police and other law enforcement agencies had collaborated with each other to “pick up, torture and keep victims in detention”.

Commission member and rights activist Sajjad Hossain had said that they recorded 1,676 complaints of enforced disappearances and so far examined 758, of which 200 people or 27 per cent of the victims never returned while those who returned were mostly shown on record as arrested.

At a press conference earlier, the commission announced that they had found eight secret detention centres in Dhaka and on its outskirts.