Dhaka: Bangladesh International Crimes Tribuna-1 on Thursday sentenced Pakistan-backed war criminal Md Shafi Uddin Moulana to death for crimes during the country's Liberation War in Lakhai Upazila of Habiganj.

Shafi, who is v since the case started, was the central committee secretary of East Pakistan Nezam-e-Islam, a wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. He participated in the provincial assembly elections as its candidate, according to Asian Lite International citing case records.

Along with Shafi, Tajul Islam alias Fokan, Md Jahed Miah alias Jahid Miah and Saleque Miah were awarded imprisonment till death on the same charges.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Md Shahinur Islam, found the other accused guilty of the charges brought against them for committing genocide, murders, rapes, abductions and tortures during the 1971 Liberation War in Lakhai Upazila in Habiganj.

The special court, however, acquitted another accused, Sabbir Ahmed, of war crime charges.

According to the court verdict, the Tribunal withdraw the case of the arrest warrant against Sabbir, which they had issued earlier.

According to the publication, in 1971, Shafi took the stance against the Independence of Bangladesh and worked as a close associate and collaborator for the Pakistani Occupation Army.

Shafi was also known as a leader of the peace committee and Razakar Bahini of Lakhai and worked as the auxiliary force of the Pakistan Army, who committed genocide, rapes and killings.

The tribunal's investigating agency released the final report on March 21, 2016, against the five accused persons, reported Asian Lite International.

The trial in the case began on February 8, 2019, with the framing of charges against the accused.

During the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh, the Pakistan military deliberately harmed hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens. Rights group says the horrors of 1971 are considered one of the worst mass atrocities in history.

The damage they inflicted can be described in the following numbers. As many as three million people were believed to have been killed, up to 200,000 women were violated and over 10 million people were forced to cross the border to India to seek shelter.