Published: 09:42 AM, 14 August 2026
'Sir, He Is Too Fat, Might Get Killed'
Dr. Ashik Ul Akbar, a victim of enforced disappearance, testified against 17 accused-including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 12 current and former army officers-in the case concerning crimes against humanity involving enforced disappearances and detention at the Task Force for Interrogation Cell (TFI Cell).
He gave his testimony before International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Thursday (August 13, 2026). The lawyers for the accused then cross-examined him.
The trial is underway against 17 accused, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, over allegations of enforced disappearances and detention at the TFI Cell of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) during the Awami League government.
Ten of the accused in the case are being held at a sub-jail in Dhaka Cantonment. They are former RAB Additional Directors General Brigadier General Md Jahangir Alam, Brigadier General Tofail Mustafa Sarwar, Brigadier General Md Kamrul Hasan, Brigadier General Md Mahabub Alam, Colonel KM Azad, Colonel Abdullah Al Momen, and Colonel Anwar Latif Khan (who was on pre-retirement leave); former RAB Intelligence Wing Director Colonel Md Mashiur Rahman Jewel; former Intelligence Wing Director Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam Suman; and former Intelligence Wing Director Lieutenant Colonel Md Sarwar Bin Kashem.
The other seven accused are absconding. They are former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina; her former security adviser Major General (Retd.) Tarique Ahmed Siddique; former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal; former RAB Director General and former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed; former RAB Director General M Khurshid Hossain; former RAB Director General Md Harun-or-Rashid; and former RAB Intelligence Wing Director Lieutenant Colonel (Retd.) Muhammad Khairul Islam.
Charges were formally framed against the accused in the case on December 23, 2025, following which the trial began.
In his testimony, Dr. Ashik Ul Akbar said:
"I am a victim of enforced disappearance. In 2016, I was a third-year student at Rangpur Prime Medical College. I was a supporter of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir. I regularly participated in various rallies and meetings against the then Hasina government and what I regarded as its fascist rule. In 2013, I came to Shapla Chattar at the call of Hefazat-e-Islam."
Describing the day he was abducted, Dr. Ashik said that on May 23, 2016, while he was staying at his maternal uncle's house in Tongi, Gazipur, he heard loud knocking on the door at around 3:30 a.m. When he opened the door, he saw 10 to 12 men in plain clothes. They asked his name. As soon as he identified himself, they put a thin black cloth over his head and beat him while taking him out of the house. He said he saw a black microbus. "They put me inside the microbus, tightly blindfolded me and put a cap over my head. Two men sat on either side of me, held me tightly around the waist, and continuously beat me from behind," he testified.
He said he was subsequently taken to a place surrounded by cloth partitions. There, his hands were handcuffed and his clothes were removed, after which he was given an old lungi to wear. He was provided three meals a day. During meals, the handcuff on one hand would be removed and his blindfold would be raised slightly. Someone would stand behind him carrying a stick.
"I had to eat whatever food they gave me. If anyone refused to eat, they would beat him severely. Out of fear, I would quickly eat whatever was provided," he said.
Regarding his use of the toilet while in captivity, he said he had to finish defecating, urinating and bathing within three minutes. If it took longer, he would be severely beaten.
"After finishing within three minutes, I had to blindfold myself, turn around and knock on the door. They would then open the door, check whether my eyes were properly covered, put the handcuffs back on me and take me to the place where I was being held," he said.
He further testified that on one occasion he was taken for interrogation. After entering the interrogation room, he was severely beaten and ordered to confess that he was associated with a militant organization.
"When I denied it, they beat me even more. They removed the handcuffs from my hands and tied a towel around them. They attached a hook to the towel and suspended me using a machine. Because of my weight, the skin beneath both my armpits began to tear as I hung there. At that point, someone standing nearby whispered, 'Sir, he is very heavy; he will die, sir.'"
He said he was then lowered and again ordered to confess to being a member of a militant organization. When he refused, they told him that they had even more methods of torture available.
"When I still refused, they applied electric shocks to the lobes of both my ears. While I was being electrocuted, I felt as though I was dying. I experienced severe pain in my head and became extremely frightened. I then told them that I would admit to whatever they wanted me to admit," he testified.
Dr. Ashik said that after 60 days, he and three others were taken to the RAB-1 media centre, where their handcuffs and blindfolds were removed.
"I saw various weapons, nuts and bolts, and different kinds of books being taken out of a bag and arranged on a table. We were told to stand behind the table, and our photographs were taken. Later, while we were in jail, we saw exactly those photographs in various newspapers."
He said they were then handcuffed and blindfolded again and left lying in a corridor of RAB-1. At around 10 p.m. that night, they were taken to Tongi Police Station.
"At that time, the OC at Tongi Police Station heard my name and called someone, saying, 'Sir, we cannot find Ashik Ul Akbar, the son of a freedom fighter. Look, sir, RAB has kept him for two months and has now brought him here to file a case.' He initially refused to register a case. Later, after receiving a phone call, he accepted the case."
On July 21, 2016, three separate cases were filed at Tongi Police Station against the four of them over the same incident, he said, describing them as false cases.
He further said that he was held in enforced disappearance for two months and spent 13 months in jail before being released on bail following a High Court order.
"As a result of this incident, my medical studies were delayed by three years, and I obtained my MBBS degree in 2023. I have provided a detailed account of this matter to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. I demand the maximum punishment for former Prime Minister Hasina, her security adviser Tarique Siddique, her regime's Home Minister, and the RAB personnel involved at the time for the heinous torture inflicted upon me."
