The 15th anniversary of the carnage at the BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) headquarters in Dhaka is being observed today (Feb 25).

During the day, family members and relatives of the slain officers pay their tributes to the slain Army officers.

“Marking the day, floral wreaths will be placed at the graves of the slain army officers at the Military Graveyard in the capital's Banani around 9am,” a press release said on Saturday.

On February 25 in 2009, several hundred BDR soldiers took up weapons against their superior officers at Darbar Hall coinciding with the “BDR Week” inside the Pilkhana and killed 74 people including the then BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed and 56 officers.

The 36-hour-long mutiny finally ended on the next day when the mutineers were forced to lay down their weapons.

On February 28, two cases were filed with Lalbagh police station in city under murder and explosives act.

Earlier on November 6, 2013, a Dhaka court awarded death penalty to 150 members of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles and two civilians for their role in the massacre of 74 people, including 57 army officers, at the BDR Pilkhana headquarters in 2009.

It sentenced 161 others, including ex-BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and ward-level Awami League leader Torab Ali, to life imprisonment for their involvement in the carnage.

The court also handed down rigorous imprisonment, ranging from three to 10 years, to another 256 people, mostly BDR jawans, in the BDR carnage case filed with the Lalbagh Police Station on February 28, 2009.

In January 2021, nine death row convicts filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court verdict that confirmed their death sentences awarded by the trial court.

BDST: 1018 HRS, FEB 25, 2024
MSK/SMS