Ex-DGFI chief Masud sent to jail in July Uprising case

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday (7 May) sent former DGFI director general and ex-lawmaker Lieutenant General (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury to jail after showing him arrested in a case over crimes against humanity committed in Feni during the July Uprising.

The three-member International Crimes Tribunal-2, led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, also allowed the tribunal’s investigation agency to interrogate the retired lieutenant general for one day, according to court sources.

Masud was produced before the tribunal from jail on Thursday morning. Prosecutor Mizanul Islam appeared for the prosecution and sought permission to show him arrested in the case, alongside a request for one day of questioning and additional time to submit the investigation report.

Following the hearing, the tribunal approved the interrogation request and ordered that Masud be formally shown arrested in the case. It also fixed 21 July for submission of the investigation report.

Police later produced him before the tribunal again in the afternoon. The tribunal had earlier ordered his appearance on 7 April, but he could not be brought earlier as he was on remand in another case.

According to case details, Masud was serving as general officer commanding (GOC) of the 9th Infantry Division in Savar when a state of emergency was declared across the country on 11 January 2007.

He was later appointed chief coordinator of the national coordination committee on serious crimes and anti-corruption activities. On 2 June 2008, he was promoted to lieutenant general and assigned to the National Defence College.

Within a week, he was attached to the foreign ministry and, on 8 June 2008, appointed Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Canberra.

Masud later returned to Bangladesh and was elected as a member of parliament from the Feni-3 constituency in the 2018 national election on a Jatiya Party ticket.