Former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that he was not informed about the core committee meetings held at the residence of then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan during the July 2024 mass uprising.
Testifying on Thursday as a state witness and co-accused-turned-approver, Mamun said that he was excluded from key decision-making sessions though he was the top officer in the police chain of command.
He also said that several of his subordinates 鈥� including Additional IGP Proloy Kumar Joarder, Special Branch chief Monirul Islam, DMP deputy commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker, and Detective Branch chief Harun-or-Rashid 鈥� attended the meetings regularly without his knowledge.
Asked why he did not take disciplinary actions against officers who bypassed him, Mamun said that it was the responsibility of the home minister and the home secretary, who were his superiors, to take such actions.
The statement was made during Mamun鈥檚 cross-examination by state-appointed defence counsel Amir Hossain, representing fugitive accused former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, both in hiding in India.
Mamun also revealed that he had declined to serve a second term as the IGP on a contract basis after his retirement, but was instructed to continue by the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office.
He claimed that he had asked the principal secretary to the prime minister to relieve him of the post but, he said, was told to remain in office at Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 insistence.
The tribunal, led by retired judge Md Mohitul Hoque Anam Chowdhury, adjourned the hearing of prosecution witnesses until September 8.
The case involves charges of crimes against humanity against Hasina, Khan, and Mamun for their alleged command responsibility during the violent crackdown on the 2024 mass protests.
Prosecutor Mizanul Islam told reporters that the trial is likely to conclude by late September or early October, as statements of 36 out of the 86 listed prosecution witnesses 鈥� along with Mamun鈥檚 testimony 鈥攈ave already been recorded in 12 working days since the trial began on August 4.
