The United States has extradited a man convicted for his part in killing Bangladesh's independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 32 years ago. Mohiuddin Ahmed arrived on Monday on a Thai Airways flight accompanied by two US security officials.
An immigration official at Dhaka airport confirmed Mohiuddin's arrival after he was ordered to be deported by a court in Los Angeles. Mohiuddin was arrested by Bangladeshi police at the airport. He fled Bangladesh when the trial for killing Mujib and most of his family began in 1996. The High Court in 2001 ordered 12 former army officers, including Mohiuddin, to hang for the murders. The then president and six members of his family were shot dead in their home before dawn on August 15, 1975, in an army coup.
Mohiuddin's extradition brings to five the number of convicted former army officers in jail for the killings. All are awaiting execution, police said. Of the remainder, six were believed to be in hiding abroad and were being hunted by Interpol. The twelfth ex-officer died in Zimbabwe while on the run a couple years ago, foreign ministry officials said.
The trial of the former officers was ordered only after Mujib's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, became prime minister in 1996. Hasina and her younger sister were out of the country the day the other members of their family were killed. Mujib was the top leader of the Bengalis in former East Pakistan and helped lead the country during a war of independence.
Comments
Comments are closed.