Limon, who lost leg in RAB firing, lodges complaint at ICT 

Limon Hossain, a youth who lost his leg in a firing incident of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) a decade ago, has lodged a complaint with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) against fallen prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s security adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and eight others. 

Submitting the complaint to the tribunal’s chief prosecutor, he told the media Tuesday afternoon that the accused also include Ziaul Ahsan, former director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC), Maj Rashed, then commanding officer of RAB-8, and four to five unnamed individuals. 

Disclosing his ordeal under the previous regime, Limon said he could not accuse all the criminals despite having intention to do so. 

“We attempted to accuse all involved, but there were many threats and restrictions. Among them are Tarique Ahmed Siddique, then commanding officer of RAB-8 Maj Rashed, and former NTMC director general Ziaul Ahsan,” he said. 

Describing the elite force as a ‘terrorist’ entity, Limon demanded that the force be disbanded. “Arrest warrants should be issued against the accused. They should be brought to book.” 

Limon said he could not stay home at his village for 8-10  years as he filed a lawsuit against the RAB in 2011. “I have been begging for justice for 13 years. I had to face prolonged harassment, instead of justice. Hence, I approached the ICT to get justice.”

No compensation is enough against a lost leg. Still, he wants compensation as per prevailing law, he said. 

According to Limon, he was denied complete treatment at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) due to an instruction from then home minister Sahara Khatun. Later, he was treated at Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in the capital’s Dhanmondi area, while Gonoshasthya and Prothom Alo helped him continue his study. 

On 23 March 2011, 16-year-old Limon lost his leg as RAB shot him when he went to bring cows from a field near his Saturia residence at Rajapur upazila in Jhalakathi.

Later, RAB filed two cases against Limon and eight others accusing them of interfering with its operation. Later, he was exempted from both cases as per home ministry’s directive in 2013.