BDR KILLINGS HC recommends inquiry to unearth facts
The High Court Division in the full verdict released Wednesday, about the February 2009 BDR mutiny case recommended formation of an Inquiry Commission to unearth ‘the facts behind the incident’ and disclose to the nation about the identity of the ‘real vested interest quarters’ involved in it.
On November 27, 2017, in a short verdict delivered by a three-judge bench of Md Shawkat Hossain, Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Md Nazrul Islam Talukder upheld death sentences of 139 BDR soldiers for slaying 57 commanders on deputation from the army during the February 2009 mutiny.
Life terms of 185 BDR men and varying terms of 200 others were also upheld.
On November 5, 2013, the capital’s 3rd additional sessions judge’s court sentenced 151 BDR men and civilian Zakir Hossain to death, 160 BDR men and two other civilians including the late BNP leader Nasiruddin Pintu and local AL leader and retired BDR subedar Md Torab Ali to life terms and jailed 256 others, mostly BDR men, to varying terms and acquitted 278 accused, mostly BDR men.
Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique recommended formation of the Inquiry Commission in his 11 recommendations in the 29,059-page full verdict.
Justice Md Shawkat Hossain agreed with separate recommendations made by Justice Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder.
Justice Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury recommended not to engage BGB in any activities like operation Daal-bhat as it degraded the force.
They also recommended inquiry into BDR’s intelligent failure to get previous information about mutiny and to take action against responsible members.
They also recommended steps for sending BGD’s members on UN Peace keeping mission.
They directed the home ministry to mitigate all the grievances of BGB members if any hidden at the level of the officers and the BGB members.
In the observations, the bench called it a ‘wrong decision’ on the part of the caretaker government to introduce ‘Operation Dal Bhat’ run by the BDR and said no such programme should be taken again.
The bench called for holding probes to find out why BDR’s intelligence agency failed to gather information that a mutiny was brewing to coincide with BDR Week celebrations.
The bench had called it ‘a historic case about pre-planned massacre of 57 brilliant army officers, then serving BDR on deputation, by some ambitious BDR sepoys during their 30-hour mutiny spanning February 25 and 26, 2009.’
He said that the BDR director general and his wife were among those brutally killed by the mutineers but their two children, a son and a daughter escaped the slaying as they were at school.
He said that the victims were buried in mass graves in bids to hide the bodies of the slain.
He said that during the Liberation War only 55 army officers died in action.
During the mutiny which began shortly after the then BDR director general stood to deliver his speech at the Durbar Hall of the BDR headquarters, the mutineers gunned down their commanders.
The BDR men began the mutiny to realize their demands including not to send army officers on deputation to BDR as its commanders.
In 2010, BDR was renamed as Border Guards Bangladesh, in short BGB.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
