New Dhaka Times: Desk Report
Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, has revealed that the country’s elite force, RAB, was involved in the highest number of abductions, murders, and torture cases. According to him, selected victims were sometimes taken on boats and killed, their bodies cut open and thrown into rivers. Some were shot, others killed with injections. In some cases, bodies were stuffed in sacks and dumped beside railway tracks to be dismembered by trains beyond recognition. Victims were even thrown in front of moving vehicles.
He further stated that the horrific experiences of enforced disappearances and murders carried out by RAB and other law enforcement agencies will be showcased to the world in a dedicated section of a museum currently under construction at the Ganabhaban, titled the “Horror Museum.”
On Wednesday, June 4, during a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy on Bailey Road, Dhaka, Shafiqul Alam presented the report of the Disappearance Commission and shared these revelations.
He informed that the second interim report of the commission on disappearances was handed over to the Chief Adviser of the interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Commission members Justice Moinul Islam, Nur Khan Liton, Sazzad Hossain, and Nabila Idris were present and presented the detailed report.
After hearing the report in full, the Chief Adviser asked what urgent actions could be taken on the issue of disappearances and instructed the commission to submit the final report soon, so that the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs can take appropriate steps.
The commission’s previous report listed 1,770 disappearance allegations, which has now increased to about 1,850. Shafiqul said new complaints are still being received regularly.
So far, the commission has verified 1,350 complaints and conducted in-depth interviews with relatives of the disappeared—some interviews lasting hours, others days. Members of the commission also visited some incident sites as part of the investigation.
Due to legal constraints, the full report cannot be published, but Shafiqul announced that seven chapters of the report will be released gradually—two chapters per day through the media.
He said the report contains details of the torture methods and identifies the perpetrators. RAB’s intelligence unit was found to be solely responsible for the highest number of disappearances. The report elaborates on the methods used to abduct and kill victims.
Bodies were cemented before being thrown into rivers, mutilated by trains, or killed by gunshots and injections, as described in the report.
These details were collected from both the victims’ families and confessions from perpetrators. The Chief Adviser said preserving such documents of brutality is essential, and the “Horror Museum” will serve that purpose.
A separate section of the museum being built at Ganabhaban to commemorate the July Uprising will be dedicated to the Horror Museum.
According to the report, many police officers were involved in these crimes to gain Dhaka postings, promotions, or awards (PPM/BPM). On the other hand, some officers who refused to take part submitted written applications, copies of which are now in Ganabhaban. The extent of the crimes was unimaginably vast.
The Chief Adviser has directed the commission to launch a website and publish all reports there.
Shafiqul Alam also said that the perpetrators of these crimes were among us—some even received birthday greetings from the public.
Professor Yunus remarked that every citizen of Bangladesh has the right to know these truths. He emphasized that the issue of enforced disappearances is no longer limited to Bangladesh alone—it has become a matter of international concern. Citizens of many countries and international human rights organizations are eager to know about these events that occurred during Sheikh Hasina’s rule.