Trial of 44 Rajshahi BDR mutineers begins
A special court yesterday began trial proceedings against 44 BDR mutineers of 37 Rifles Battalion in Rajshahi.
Headed by Kushtia Sector Commander Nazrul Islam Sarker, the special court-17 started trial proceedings at around 11:00am. Two other members are Lt Col Gazi M Salah Uddin and Maj Mohammad Ashfaq Hossain. Lt Col Zahid Hassan of 37 Rifles Battalion is the prosecutor. Attorney General's representative M Selim was present during trial.
At the beginning, complainant Nayek Subedar Nazrul Islam read out the allegations brought against the accused and told the court that 40 of the accused were arrested in May last year while the rest are still free at the battalion. He sought court order to arrest them.
He alleged that the accused revolted against their superiors, expressing solidarity with the mutineers of BDR headquarters at Pilkhana in the capital on February 25-26 last year.
The plaintiff said he along with senior officials asked all soldiers to refrain from taking law into own hand. Ignoring the order, some BDR jawans forced senior officials, including the Rajshahi Sector Commander Col Ahiya Azam Khan, to leave the sector and battalion headquarters, he said.
The mutineers looted firearms and ammunitions from the armoury and opened fire, creating panic in the city, they desecrated the portrait of BDR DG Shakil Ahmed and gave provocative statements before the media, he further alleged.
The court took the case into its cognisance and issued arrest order against the four accused. It asked the authorities concerned to produce all the 44 accused in the court today and adjourned the court until 8:00am today.
After the court order, the law enforcers arrested four BDR men at the battalion and sent them to Rajshahi Central Jail. They are Nayek Gias Uddin, Lance Nayek Abdul Wahab, sepoy driver Ahmed Mostafa and sepoy Ruhul Kuddus.
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