Nerve-racking hours inside BDR zone

A policeman is seen lying wounded near Jigatola intersection yesterday afternoon.Photo: Shawkat Jamil

The sound of some gunshots was heard around the BDR headquarters suddenly yesterday morning. After a while, the area turned into a battlefield because of frequent firing. In the meantime, some BDR jawans warned the residents of the quarter inside it not to come out from their dormitories.
He didn't know the fate of his father. There was no way to go out. Waiting for a couple of hours...understood that without help of from the outside they would not get rid of it. So, he sent messages to their relatives.
"Please send help. Critical situation" it was the first message and next message was: 'Do something fast. They will destroy us."
A helpless son of a colonel, posted in BDR headquarters, sent the messages in the morning to his friends and relatives.
"I tried several times to his (colonel) cell phone but I could not reach him as it was off," said Emamul Haque, a brother of the colonel adding "I even could not come to know whereabouts my brother and his family." he said yesterday evening.
Later, somehow he came to know that his brother was killed in the gunfight.
This suspension not only experienced the major's family but a few hundred other families of high officials of BDR and BDR Jawans and about 30 families of teacher of BDR school and college and BDR kindergarten also faced such situation as they are staying inside the BDR headquarter, sources said.
All the families became panicked and helpless when bullets were strayed around. Most of the members of the families went under the cots and took shelter in the toilets and kitchen, according to the sources.
Talking to The Daily Star, a teacher of BDR College said, they were warned by the BDR Jawan to stay inside of their house.
"I saw some BDR jawans who covered their faces with red clothes were beating their two officials with iron rod," she said requesting anonymity adding "We had just heard the sound of firing. I could not see much," she said.
Narrating the situation near the wall of Hrishipara in Hazaribagh, an eyewitness said, BDR jawans were patrolling in front of the quarters with arms and shooting in the air.
Quoting a commanding officer who escaped from the scene, a retired BDR major said, the gun battle started when director general of BDR was delivering his speech, some jawans came forward and started bargaining about their demands that triggered the bloody armed situation eventually.
While describing the horrifying picture inside the BDR headquarters at about 10:30 am, a BDR soldier said, the jawans got united and broke open the ammunition depot immediately after the shootout began at about 9:30 am at Darbal Hall.
It was like a battlefield…everyone was holding guns and firing indiscriminately. Many bullet-hit personnel were found lying here and there while some of them dead,” another soldier told The Daily Star over cell phone.
"Brothers, let's take arms and stay together,” the word was shouting to each other during the massacre. Soon the jawans captured a number of vehicles used by the officers, they started firing indiscriminately targeting their officers, he said.
"The solders on duty and those who were in the barracks joined the mutiny. Hours after the shootout started, I saw few bodies were lying in the drains in various points, the jawan said in a trembling voice adding "I am not sure whether those were the solder or officer.”