Ziaul Ahsan

Ziaul Ahsan
Ahsan in 2015
Allegiance Bangladesh
Branch
 Bangladesh Army
Service years
1991 – 2024
Rank
Major General
Service numberBA - 4060
UnitEast Bengal Regiment
Commands
AwardsBishishto Seba Padak
Maroon Parachute Wing
Police career
UnitRapid Action Battalion
Allegiance Bangladesh
Branch Bangladesh Police
Service years2009–2016
RankAdditional Director General
AwardsBPM (bar)
PPM (bar)

Ziaul Ahsan is a former two-star officer of the Bangladesh Army and the antecedent director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre. Ahsan is known for his alleged extrajudicial and enforced disappearance assignments while tenuring at Rapid Action Battalion under the regime of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[1][2] He was relieved of his duties and detained forthwith after the Student–People's uprising.[1][3] The Daily Amar Desh and Mohammad Tajul Islam alleged that he killed a total of 1,030 enforced disappeared persons during his career at the order of Sheikh Hasina.[4][5][6][7][8]

Early life and education

Ahsan graduated from the Bangladesh Military Academy's 24th long course.[9] He was commissioned on 21 June 1991. He trained as a commando and skydiver.[10]

Military career

Ahsan joined the Rapid Action Battalion on 5 March 2009 as the company commander for the second battalion. He was elevated to the rank of lieutenant colonel the same year and took charge as director of the RAB's intelligence wing on 27 August 2010.[10] He was made the RAB's additional director general (operations) on 7 December 2013 after being promoted to colonel.[9][10] He was promoted to brigadier general in 2015.[9]

Ahsan led a number of operations over his seven-and-a-half years with RAB.[9] He played a role in the repatriation of Nur Hossain, main accused in the Narayanganj Seven Murder case from Kolkata.[11] RAB colleagues said that Ahsan played a crucial role in arresting leaders of extremist organizations Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, and the Ansarullah Bangla Team along with others, including Sohel Rana and drug kingpin Amin Huda.[10]

He was awarded the Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM) in 2010 and the President Police Medal (PPM) in 2011.[12]

Ahsan left the Rapid Action Battalion in April 2016 to become the director of internal affairs at the National Security Intelligence.[9]

Controversies and prosecution

Ahsan has faced multiple allegations of involvement in extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances while serving in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the National Security Intelligence (NSI).[13] Brigadier General Rashidul Alam has testified that he had seen Ahsan execute two individuals who were in custody of the RAB.[14][15]

On 29 April 2014, while serving as the commanding officer of RAB-11, Ahsan allegedly ordered Lieutenant Colonel Tareque Sayeed and Major Arif Hossain to abduct and kill Narayanganj City Corporation councilor Nazrul Islam, which led to the Seven Murders of the Narayanganj. In a confessional statement, Major Arif claimed he had acted on Ahsan's orders. Ahsan has denied any involvement.[13]

Following the Student–People's uprising and the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Ahsan was detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on 6 August 2024 while attempting to leave the country. He was subsequently dismissed from the army and taken into custody.[16] On 16 August, a Dhaka court placed him on an eight-day remand for interrogation in connection with the death of a shopkeeper during protests in the capital's New Market area on 16 July 2024.[3]

On 29 August 2024, a Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against Ahsan and four other former senior intelligence officials in a case involving the alleged abduction and enforced disappearance of brigadier general Abdullahil Amaan Azmi.[17]

In October 2024, The Daily Star published detailed accounts from former RAB officers who alleged that Ahsan personally directed, and at times was present during, numerous acts of extrajudicial killings and torture. The officers described a secretive unit that operated under his command to carry out these operations.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 "Reshuffle in top army posts; General Zia sacked". The Business Standard. 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  2. ↑ "Brigadier Ziaul Ahsan joins as NSI director". Samakal. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  3. 1 2 "Ex-army officer Ziaul placed on 8-day remand". The Daily Star. 2024-08-16. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  4. ↑ Rahman, SadeQur (18 August 2025). 'কিলিং মেশিন' জেনারেল জিয়াউল আহসান!. Daily Jalalabad (in Bengali). Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  5. ↑ সিরিয়াল কিলার জিয়াউলের শিকার ১০৩০ জন. Bdtoday.net (in Bengali). 17 August 2025. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  6. ↑ একজন নিজে গুলি করে ১ হাজার ৩০ জনকে হত্যা করেছে: তাজুল ইসলাম. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 26 July 2025. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "'You too can be made an accused'". The Daily Star. 23 November 2025. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "'Serial killer Ziaul murdered over 1,000 on Hasina's orders'". Daily Sun. 24 November 2025. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "RAB's Ziaul Ahsan transferred to NSI". New Age. 2016-04-28. Archived from the original on 2016-11-12. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "RAB ADG Ziaul Ahsan promoted, made director of National Security Intelligence". bdnews24.com. 28 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "Zia new NSI director". The Daily Observer. Archived from the original on 2016-11-12. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  12. ↑ "Brigadier Ziaul Ahsan joins NSI". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. Archived from the original on 2016-11-12. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  13. 1 2 Hasan, Rashidul; Hossain, Emran (2015-05-19). "Maj Arif tells of Zia's role". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  14. ↑ "Enforced disappearances: 82 officers, 13 detention centres identified". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2026-04-10.
  15. ↑ "Military probe into RAB, Ilias Ali scrapped on higher-level order: report". New Age. 8 January 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "Sacked Bangladeshi intelligence chief 'arrested' at Dhaka Airport". The Express Tribune. 2024-08-07. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  17. ↑ "Arrest warrants issued against five ex-DGFI chiefs". The Asian Age. Bangladesh. 2024-08-30. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  18. ↑ "Extrajudicial killings: Ex-RAB men give chilling accounts of Ziaul's role". The Daily Star. 2024-10-11. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
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