Brig Gen Miftah detained in military custody for Ekramul killing case

Bangladesh Army has taken Brigadier General Miftah Uddin Ahmed into military custody after he was named in a crime against humanity case linked to the 2018 killing of former Teknaf municipality ward councillor Ekramul Haque.

An official from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), speaking anonymously to UNB, confirmed that the serving senior army officer was taken into military custody on Monday.

The official said, "The authorities were proceeding with the matter in accordance with the law, and the next legal steps would follow the established process.”

The development came one day after prosecutors submitted a formal charge before Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) over the killing of Ekramul Haque.

The prosecution filed the charge on Sunday, naming 11 individuals as accused in the case, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The formal charge lists Brig Gen Miftah Uddin Ahmed among the accused. At the time of the incident in 2018, he was serving as a lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the Rapid Action Battalion’s (RAB) Battalion-7 in Chattogram. Cox’s Bazar, where the incident occurred, fell within the operational jurisdiction of RAB-7.

Ekramul Haque, a ward councillor in Teknaf and the then president of the local unit of the Awami League’s youth organisation, Juba League, was killed on 26 May 2018 in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar.

Authorities at the time described the incident as a ‘gunfight’, although the circumstances surrounding the killing have remained the subject of public debate and legal scrutiny.

The latest action represents an important turning point in the tribunal proceedings as investigators and prosecutors continue pursuing accountability over allegations linked to the 2018 incident.

The legal process is expected to continue before the International Crimes Tribunal in the coming weeks.