Witness Testimony Links Former Barishal Police Chief to Extrajudicial Killings of Political Activists

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A formal trial for crimes against humanity commenced Wednesday at International Crimes Tribunal-2, centering on the extrajudicial killing of two political activists in Barishal in 2015. Police Inspector Asim Kumar Sikdar, the case’s first witness, provided chilling testimony detailing how the former District Superintendent of Police (SP), A.K.M. Ehsanullah, orchestrated the executions after local officers refused to carry them out.

The victims, Tipu Howlader, then-joint general secretary of the Agailjhara Upazila Chhatra Dal, and Kabir Molla, the organizing secretary of the local Jatiotabadi Samajik-Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas), were killed on February 21, 2015. The prosecution’s opening statement, delivered by Advocate Md. Shahidul Islam Sardar, marked the formal start of the judicial proceedings against four defendants. Among the accused are former Awami League lawmaker Abul Hasanat Abdullah and former SP A.K.M. Ehsanullah, both of whom remain fugitives. The two other defendants, former Assistant Sub-Inspectors Mahabul Islam and Jassim Uddin of the Wazirpur Police Station, are currently in custody.

Testifying before the tribunal, Inspector Sikdar, who served as a Sub-Inspector at the Agailjhara police station at the time of the incident, recounted that SP Ehsanullah visited the station on February 20, 2015, and demanded that officers execute two detainees who had been arrested in connection with an earlier arson case. According to Sikdar, he and several other officers explicitly refused the order. The witness stated that the SP responded with verbal abuse and dismissed them from his office, subsequently pressuring other staff members until they also declined to participate.

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The witness testified that because no officers from the Agailjhara station would comply with the extrajudicial order, the SP bypassed the local chain of command and brought in personnel from the neighboring Wazirpur station to execute the plan. In the early hours of February 21, 2015, while on duty, Sikdar reported observing the SP’s vehicle, followed by a microbus, traveling toward the Budha area. Shortly thereafter, he heard gunfire and witnessed flames in the distance. He later learned from his commanding officer that the two detainees had been killed in a staged “crossfire” incident.

The legal proceedings follow a period of heightened scrutiny into alleged systemic abuses involving law enforcement and political figures during the period in question. As the trial progresses, the tribunal is expected to examine further evidence regarding the coordination between political leadership and police officials in the targeted killing of the two opposition activists.