Dhaka: The International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday sent to jail retired Pakistani Army Captain Shahidullah, who was arrested from Daudkandi upazila of Comilla on war crimes charges.

Shahidullah is the first former Army official to stand trial for war crimes, said the sources.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Anwarul Haque, passed the order when he was produced before it, asking the prosecution to submit an investigation report in this regard by October 17.

Prosecutor Abul Kalam said Shahidullah, now 72, had been posted in Pakistan before the War of Liberation began in 1971. The war began when he was in East Pakistan on leave.

He joined the Pakistani occupation forces here instead of returning to Pakistan.

Earlier, a team of the ICT investigation agency arrested Shahidullah from Amirabad village of Daudkandi upazila early Wednesday after the tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest.

Sources at the ICT investigation agency said Shahidullah was the commander of the Pakistani occupation forces camp set up at Daudkandi High School during the Liberation War. He did not join Bangladesh Army after the independence.