Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus has said that the nation is still seeking answers to the 2009 BDR carnage and emphasized that the investigation commission must uncover the truth behind the brutal killings.
“The mystery must be solved. The commission has to succeed in its investigation,” he said on Wednesday (April 16) at 5pm after members of the probe commission briefed him on the progress of their investigation at the state guesthouse Jamuna in the capital.
The investigation commission said its work is moving forward and expressed hope that the final report would be completed by June.
Major General (retd) Alam Fazlur Rahman, head of the commission, said they are contacting different parties involved. “As the incident took place 16 years ago, it is taking time to reach everyone. Many of the accused are staying abroad. We are coordinating with the foreign ministry to trace them.”
He said interviews have already been conducted with several inmates, and among 23 individuals currently abroad, eight have responded and shown willingness to give statements.
“We are examining the pattern of the killings and torture. After killing the DG, the others were murdered. It was a planned massacre. Such killings can’t happen without planning,” he added.
“This feels like a repeat of the Palashi tragedy. We must find the roots of this incident,” he remarked.
Commission member Major General (retd) Jahangir Kabir Talukder said, “No official or employee was removed or held accountable for this horrific massacre. It shows a failure of intelligence agencies, the military, and political leadership.”
Chief Adviser Yunus assured that the government will provide full support to the commission. “Their own officers were brutally killed. The killings were executed smoothly,” he said.
“The whole nation is looking at the commission,” he added.
Other commission members present at the meeting included Brigadier General Md Saidur Rahman, Munshi Alauddin Al Azad, Dr M Akbar Ali, Md Shariful Islam, Shahnewaz Khan Chandan, and ATM Iqbal.
On 25 and 26 February 2009, mutinous BDR soldiers carried out a massacre at the force’s Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka, killing 74 people, including 57 army officers.
BDST: 2014 HRS, April 16, 2025
MSK
