Bangladesh detains senior army officer in staged killing case

DHAKA: Bangladesh has detained an active army brigadier general over the alleged extrajudicial killing of a local politician during an anti-narcotics crackdown that left hundreds dead, officials said on Tuesday.

At least 466 people were killed during the nationwide anti-drug campaign launched in 2018, according to rights groups, with many deaths alleged to have occurred in staged gunfights involving security forces.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) last week accepted a complaint against 11 officials, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a former police chief and six serving and retired military officers, over the killing of Akramul Haque, a councillor in the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar.

The officer’s detention marks one of the most significant moves yet by the ICT against those linked to actions taken during the rule of Hasina, who was ousted in 2024.

“Brigadier General Miftah Uddin Ahmed was taken into custody for further judicial proceedings,” army officer Sami-Ud-Dowla Chowdhury told AFP.

ICT chief prosecutor Aminul Islam said investigators had submitted a report detailing the alleged involvement of the accused.

The case centres on the killing of Haque, whom Hasina’s government had described as a “meth kingpin”.

The incident sparked outrage after Haque’s wife, Ayesha Akhter, released an audio recording that she said captured her husband’s final moments and contradicted official claims that he had died in a shootout.

In the recording, Haque can be heard speaking with his wife and children shortly before his death, while his young daughter asks: “Dad, why are you crying?”

Critics alleged at the time that authorities sought to suppress reporting on the case.

“We have been waiting for this day to come for the last eight years,” Akhter told AFP.

“My family and I suffered immense pain, slander, neglect and mental distress, but we never lost hope,” she said. “We want to keep faith in our judicial system.”

The United States imposed sanctions in 2021 on Bangladesh’s elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and several of its current and former commanders over allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

Rights activists welcomed Tuesday’s arrest announcement as a test case for accountability over alleged abuses committed during the anti-drug campaign.

“It is good news that a textbook case of grave human rights abuse is finally going to trial,” prominent rights activist Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir told AFP.

He added that campaigners would closely monitor the court proceedings and hoped other suspects would also be taken into custody.