In Rangpur, human bones and fragments of tooth were found from a Boddhovumi (slaughterhouse) next to the Town Hall Torture Cell used by the Pakistani invaders during the 1971 Liberation War.
On Monday, when workers dug the ground for the construction work of a liberation war memorial, the bones came out.
When the news spread, people including journalists rushed to the town hall premises. Later, senior officials of the administration also visited the slaughterhouse area.
The excavation workers said that only the surface of the well filled with soil has been dug. If the whole well is dug, more bones of the people who died as a result of torture during the liberation war could be found.
Rangpur unit president of ‘Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee’ Dr Mofizul Islam Mantu said, “This town hall is a memorial of our liberation war. Pakistani invaders tortured people in this Town Hall. Freedom-loving Bengalis, freedom fighters and innocent people were captured, tortured and killed in this torture cell”.
“Bodies of the martyrs were thrown into the well next to the town hall. We have all been talking about this history for so long. The bones of people who died at the hands of Pakistani investors have been found today. We want to preserve the great history of the liberation war and keep the martyrs’ memories alive”, he added.
When the matter came to light, various progressive and pro-liberation cultural activists and organizers including Freedom Fighter comrade Shahadat Hossain and heroic freedom fighter Akbar Hossain came to visit the massacre site.
It may be mentioned that the construction work of the liberation war monument was inaugurated at that place on November 16 last year. Rangpur district administration is constructing the memorial to preserve the massacre site, along with beautification of the historic town hall and its surroundings.
The construction and beautification of the memorial at the slaughterhouse area will be completed within June next year. Its construction cost has been estimated at Tk 34 lakh.