Four people, including Nazrul Islam, a witness to the BDR killings, were taken to the Baleshwar River, blindfolded, shot, disembowelled, tied to cement sacks and dumped into the water, a former army officer told the International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday.

Major Sabbir, a witness in the enforced disappearance case, gave the testimony before Tribunal-1. He said members of the intelligence wing of Rapid Action Battalion-8 carried out the killings in May 2010 in the presence of and on the orders of then head of the RAB intelligence wing Ziaul Ahsan.

In his testimony, Major Sabbir said the four people were taken to the Baleshwar River in Char Duani, Patharghata, on a fishing trawler, with their faces and entire bodies covered. They were subsequently killed brutally, he said.

Sabbir, a former army officer, also testified that another person was killed in the same manner in 2010 and dumped into the river.

He said Alkas Majhi, one of the trawler operators involved in Ziaul Ahsan’s “golf operation” in 2011, was also abducted and killed.

Former army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, as well as army and RAB officers who witnessed the killings, have so far testified against Ziaul Ahsan in the enforced disappearance case.

The tribunal will next record the testimony of the investigation officer before hearing arguments from both sides.

It is the first enforced disappearance case in 16 years to reach the final stage of trial.