A BDR special court holding trial for mutiny charges against 622 accused jawans of 13 Rifle Battalion yesterday read out charges against 400 more accused.
With the yesterday's 400, hearing on charge-framing against 500 accused has been completed. The court at Darbar Hall of Pilkhana BDR Headquarters read out charges against 100 accused on Monday.
The three-member Special Court-8, headed by BDR Deputy Director General Brig Gen Obaidul Haque, adjourned the trial proceedings till 10:00am today. Two other members are Lt Col Serajul Haque and Maj Zahidur Rahman Khan.
The charges against all the accused include leaving Darbar hall during a Darbar on February 25 last year ignoring the directive of the then BDR DG when a chaotic situation was created and not to take any effective step against mutineers despite being member of a disciplined force.
Moreover, not to inform higher authorities about mutiny on time, disobeying lawful authorities during the February 2009 mutiny at Pilkhana, taking arms and ammunition from different cote and magazines and taking part in the rebellion are also taken into account as charges.
Some of the accused were also charged with possessing looted ammunitions and hobnobbing with mutineers.
The special court resumed the hearing around 10:00am yesterday and ended it around 3:00pm.
On Monday, Prosecutor Lt Col Akhter Hamid Khan, who is also commanding officer of 13 Rifle Battalion, placed charges against 623 accused.
Of the BDR men being tried, one had died earlier and has been acquitted.
The accused BDR jawans were in the uniform they wore during the February 25-26 bloodbath that left 74 people including 57 army officers killed.
The court ordered to produce the accused before it in the same get-up they were in during the mutiny, so that witnesses would not be confused.