2009 BDR Carnage: Around 200 granted bail in explosives case

A Dhaka tribunal dealing with a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act regarding the 2009 BDR mutiny granted bail to suspects who have been acquitted by higher courts in the BDR carnage case and have no pending appeals against those acquittals.

Judge Md Ibrahim Mia of the Metropolitan Special Tribunal-2 of Dhaka gave the order after holding a hearing on their bail petitions at a makeshift courtroom inside the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, Special Public Prosecutor Jewel Munshi Sumon told The Daily Star.

"Around 200 people have been granted bail. The exact number of those granted bail can only be confirmed upon receiving the court's written order," he said.

Earlier, some 400 accused filed bail petitions with the court, said a court staffer.

Yesterday, the judge also recorded statements of prosecution witnesses Major (retd) Syed Md Yousuf.

With Yousuf, a total of 284 prosecution witnesses testified before the court.

The BDR carnage on February 25-26, 2009 resulted in the massacre of 74 people, including 57 army officials, at the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana.

On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court handed death sentences to 150 BDR members and two civilians, and life imprisonment to 160 others for their role and involvement in the carnage.

A total of 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers, were given jail sentences.

The court acquitted 278 others, but the prosecution later appealed against the acquittal of 69.

In January 2015, the HC started hearing the appeals of the convicts and pronounced its verdict on November 27, 2017, confirming the death penalty of 139.

It commuted the death penalty of eight convicts to life imprisonment and acquitted five others who were sentenced to death by the trial court.

The HC upheld life imprisonment of 146 and acquitted 14.