Abul Kalam Azad was born on 5 March 1947 to an impoverished farmer,[10] Abdus Salam Mia and his wife of Barakhardia village, under Saltha Police Station of Faridpur District.

[3][12] The investigations alleged that during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, he then known as "Bacchu", aged 24, was a close associate of Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, then president of the East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The prosecution alleged that before the formation of the Razakar paramilitary force, Azad actively aided the Pakistani army in committing criminal acts.

As a close associate of the Pakistani army, he participated in committing atrocities on civilians, including the Hindu community and pro-liberation Bengali people.

The government was responding to popular support to have the trials and settle longstanding accusations dating to the liberation war of 1971.

The trial was held in absentia because Azad went into hiding hours before Tribunal-2 issued an arrest warrant against him on 3 April 2012.

Investigators alleged that they had identified 14 people murdered by Bachchu: three were women he had raped and nine were other abducted civilians.