Published on 12:00 AM, February 26, 2009

<i>Mutiny starts at Darbar </i>

8:30am: The yearly Darbar (assembly) of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) begins at the Darbar Hall at the BDR headquarters in capital's Pilkhana marking the BDR Week.
9:00-9:30am: Mutiny breaks out when the BDR jawans at the meeting raise their demands before the officers who decline to meet those.
The mutineers take many high-ups including the BDR director general hostage and seize control of the headquarters within a few minutes, BDR jawans told The Daily Star. They spray bullets indiscriminately on the headquarters compound.
9:30-10:00am: A person is hit by a bullet in the head on his way to the BDR hospital inside the headquarters during the gun battle. He dies on the spot. Five other people including a BDR member, who sustained bullet injuries, are rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Members of Rapid Action Battalion reach the spot.
10:30-11:30am: Panic grips the people of the surrounding areas and vehicular movement on nearby roads comes to a halt. Shops and schools in the area are closed down. Army personnel reach the spot and take positions at various points. An army helicopter patrols above the headquarters and returns in the face of indiscriminate firing from the BDR rebels.
12:30-1:00pm: State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Jatiya Sangsad Whip Mirza Azam arrives at the BDR headquarters to hold talks with the mutineers. Nanak requests the BDR rebels by a loudhailer to halt firing for the sake of BDR's image.
1:00-3:00pm: The mutineers talk to reporters of various TV channels and newspapers demanding an end to the army's control over the BDR. They demand withdrawal of army personnel from areas around the headquarters and also talks with the prime minister and the home minister.
Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Mirza Azam enter the BDR headquarters with a white flag. Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun also enters the BDR headquarters.
3:40pm: A team of 14 BDR members reaches the prime minister's official residence Jamuna for talks.
6:00pm: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announces amnesty for the rebel BDR soldiers after holding a meeting with the team, Nanak tells journalists.
7:30pm: The BDR mutineers stop firing and many injured including women and children come out of the BDR headquarters.
8:45pm: BDR jawans fire shots again near BDR gate no-1. Additional army personnel are deployed. Jahangir Kabir Nanak and lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh reaches the Rifles Square to hold talks with BDR mutineers while the home minister and Mirza Azam reaches near Road no-2 at Dhanmondi.
9:00pm: BDR mutineers demand that army personnel are withdrawn from Pilkhana by tonight as precondition for laying down arms.
9:40pm: A team of four BDR members meets Sahara Khatun, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mirza Azam and Fazle Noor Taposh at Ambala Inn on Road no-2 in Dhanmondi.
10:00pm: Eight more BDR members join the team to hold talks with the government representatives.
10:40pm: Army personnel start retreating from their positions at New Market, Nilkhet and Balaka.
12:10am: The meeting between the rebel BDR personnel and the government representatives ends. Taposh tells the reporters that the rebel jawans agreed to lay down their arms within two hours.
12:25am: Sahara Khatun enters the BDR headquarters.