Md. Shahjahan Bashar, Dhaka Correspondent:
Former Army Chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan mentioned in his Facebook post how Major General (retd) Ziaul Ahsan was involved in kidnapping and extrajudicial killings of civilians, political activists and suspects while serving in RAB.
Iqbal Karim wrote that young officers were sent to RAB, where they assumed the character of professional killers. After taking charge as the Army Chief, he tried to stop this trend and informed the Prime Minister about the matter. However, no effective action was taken in reality.
The former Army Chief also wrote that Colonel (later Lieutenant General and DG SSF) Mujib had ordered Ziaul Ahsan to keep him under control. Although the crossfire incidents subsided for a few days, they later recurred. After Ziaul Ahsan took charge of the Intelligence Wing of RAB, his behavior became more erratic. He kept weapons, posted guards and installed CCTV in his residential tower.
Ziaul Ahsan is a 24th long course officer of the Bangladesh Army. He joined RAB-2 in 2009 and later served as Additional Director General of RAB, Director of the National Intelligence Service (NSI) and Director of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC).
According to Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, Ziaul Ahsan was directly involved in the killings and disappearances. According to sources from the Disappearance Commission, Ziaul Ahsan’s team was involved in the disappearances and killings of 1,030 people. In addition, he was also involved in creating fear and panic through monitoring political opponents, call records and security forces.
Former Army Chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan warned in his writing that Ziaul Ahsan was an officer who was extremely difficult to control and his behavior had dire consequences for the army and the common people.