9 charged

First charges were framed in connection with the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny on February 25-26 against nine soldiers at a BDR special court in Rangamati yesterday.
After hearing both the prosecution and the defence, the three-member court decided to frame charges against the nine of 12 Rifle Battalion under the Rangamati Sector.
The special court-4 led by BDR Director General Maj Gen M Mainul Islam adjourned its proceedings till tomorrow. The other members of the court are Lt Col Md Abdur Rouf and Maj Golam Mostafa Al-Mamun.
At the beginning of yesterday's proceedings, prosecutor Lt Col Habibul Karim produced evidence against the accused before the court set at Mechanical Transport Shed at the sector headquarters.
The complainant, Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Reaz Uddin Ahmed of 12 Rifle Battalion, also presented allegations in details against the accused. After this, the head of the court asked all the nine one by one whether they were guilty or not.
The accused all denied the allegations brought against them and claimed to have been innocent.
The court also allowed the accused to question the complainant and they did so with the assistance of their lawyers advocates SM Rezaul Karim, SUM Nurul Islam Chowdhury, Md Nurul Islam and Md Shadad Hossain.
The accused are havilders Sibbir Ahmed, Sohrab Hossain, Md Shamsul Haque, signalman Abdur Rahman, sepoys Md Abul Kalam Azad, Md Sakhawat Hossain, Md Rasel Kabir, Md Zahir Uddin and Md Sarwar Kamal.
Two of the 18 witnesses--Aleya Ferdous, wife of then battalion commander Maj Khan Mohammed Alauddin, and the complainant--gave their accounts before the court.
The mutiny in Rangamati broke out at three of the five battalions. After the trial of the 12 Rifle Battalion began on November 24, the court the next day fixed yesterday for hearing on charge framing.
Deputy Attorney General Md Sohrawardy, on behalf of the attorney general, and Mosharraf Hossain Kajal and Monzurul Alam Monzu, senior PP on behalf of the state, were present at the court, sources said.