Staff Correspondent:

As many as 167 people, who sustained critical injuries during the July uprising, were admitted to the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in the capital. Most of them had no skull.

National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital associate professor Md Mahfuzur Rahman revealed this while giving his testimony record at the International Crimes Tribunal – 1 on Wednesday.

Mahfuzur Rahman recorded this deposition as the 13th witness in a case filed over crimes against humanities committed during the July uprising against three, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The other two accused in the case are – former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

Former IGP Mamun has already confessed his involvement in crimes against humanity. He has become the ‘approver’ (popularly known as state witness) in the case. He was also present in the tribunal on Wednesday.

In his statement, Mahfuzur Rahman said, “At our hospital, 575 gunshot and pellet injury patients were treated as outpatients and discharged. Many of them required hospital admission, but due to a lack of available beds and the high number of critically injured patients, they were released.

A total of 167 critically injured patients were admitted. Most of them had no skull. Four of them were brought dead, 29 died while receiving treatment, and seven were sent to Thailand for advanced medical care.

In his statement, Mahfuzur Rahman mentioned that he personally performed nearly 33 surgeries on those injured in the mass uprising.

He said, “I have removed numerous bullets and pellets from the bodies of the injured protesters. Many of the bullets and pellets were taken by the patients themselves. According to the investigating officer’s seizure list, two pellets, one large bullet, and another round bullet were recovered.

Mahfuzur Rahman said that on 19 July last year, as the number of patients was rising, personnel from the police’s Detective Branch (DB) pressured him not to admit newly shot students.

Mahfuzur Rahman said, “The DB told me not to be overzealous, warning that I could get into trouble. They also said that those we had admitted should not be released. There were orders from above. They threatened that legal action would be taken against them. So we tactically altered the patients’ records in the admission register, listing injuries as road accidents or other causes instead of gunshot wounds.”

In his statement, Mahfuzur Rahman further said that the main orchestrator of the aforementioned crimes against humanity is Sheikh Hasina.

The orders were executed by former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former state minister for information Ali Arafat, and those who indiscriminately shot at unarmed protesters, killing and injuring them. He demands them to be brought to justice and sentenced to death.