Mutineer troops of BDR surrender arms in Bangladesh

February 26, 2009

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/188/mutineer-troops-of-bdr-surrender-arms-in

Almost after 32 hours of revolt, the mutineers of Bangladesh Rifles [BDR] surrendered their arms on Thursday evening. Home Minister Sahara Khatun and Finance Minister AMA Muhith received the arms at the Pilkhana's BDR Headquarters. White flags have been hoisted at the headquarters.

According to latest report gathered by correspondents of Blitz, approximately 146 officers of Bangladesh Riffles [Army Officers] were brutally killed by the mutineer Bangladesh Riffles troops during Wednesday and Thursday. Deadbody of a child was also recovered.

Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun made a statement in Bangladesh Parliament saying 9 dead bodies of army officers are so far recovered while 143 are still missing.

Police took control of BDR headquarters this afternoon after the mutineers surrendered their arms and freed 27 army officers and about 150 civilians taken hostages.

Several contingents of police were deployed in and around the border guards' headquarters. Policemen were seen guarding the five entrances. Police were also patrolling the areas around Pilkhana.

The Armed Police Battalion has been assigned to guard the armoury, different private television channels reported.

Several army officers along with their family members, who were kept hostage by the mutineers, were released in phases Thursday after the armoured army encircled it. Incidents of sporadic gunshots also reported from the gate No 2 and 3 of the headquarters.

Negotiations between the mutineers and government have been going on since Wednesday to calm down the agitation. Tensions have still been running high in and around the BDR Headquarters that spread across the country.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday verbally pardoned the BDR rebellions but it could not make any immediate breakthrough.

Mutieer troops of Bangladesh Riffles [BDR] killed Director General Major General Shakil Ahmed Chowdhury along with his family members. During the first hours of revolt at least 86 army officers, who were on deputation in BDR had been killed alongwith their family members. Mutinous troops threw deadbodies inside a swearage tank, which flows out at Buriganga River.

The mutineer troops assassinated Major General Shakil Ahmed Chowdhury and other members of his family. An unconfirmed source said, General Shakil's deadbody was first placed inside a vehicle and set on fire. Later the burnt body was removed and the mutineer troops might have burried secretly somewhere within the compound.

Another source said, the mutinoeer troops were chanting slogans against Bangladesh Army and were attacking each and every members of Bangladesh Army who were on deputation in Bangladesh Riffles. Many of the family members of these officers were also brutally tortured and killed. Even the mutinous troops did not spare the children from such atrocity. It is further learnt from a number of dependable sources that wives and daughters and other female members of a number of officers of Bangladesh Riffles had also been raped by the unruly mutineers inside the BDR Head Quarters.

Meanwhile, another source confirms that the mutinous anti-Army troops of Bangladesh Riffles were not only mercilessly killing the army officers and their family members, but some of the troops were seen stabbing the dead bodies with bayonets and chanting anti army slogans.

Following a circulation of leaflets by the rebels on Tuesday, tension prevailed in Pilkhana throughout the night between officers and sepoys.

The mutineers began by speaking out at the Darbar Hall against the BDR high-ups, accusing them of misappropriating 'profits' made from the Dal-Bhaat programme, where 12 BDR sector commanders, many battalion commanders, and headquarters officers had gathered.

According to the rebels, over 3,300 soldiers belonging to battalions 24, 36, 13, and 44 in Dhaka and 3,000 more coming from various battalions of the country, gathered in Pilkhana on the occasion of the BDR Week, and ended up participating in the mutiny that went almost unchallenged inside the compound.

There are 46 battalions in the country, each having 826 soldiers totalling to nearly 40,000 soldiers in the entire BDR. The number of officers in BDR is between 250 and 300, they added.

Colonel Gulzar Uddin Ahmed, who had joined the BDR early this month following his illustrious stint as the additional director general of Rapid Action Battalion [RAB], frantically phoned his former colleagues for help from inside the headquarters. But at one point his cell phone went dead. It is believed that, Colonel Gulzar is also one of the victims of Wednesday's mutiny of the BDR troops.

It is now a big question as to what will happen to the command of this para millitary force in the country, as one of the key demands of the mutneer troops was to withdraw members of armed forces from its command. Some of the mutiner troops were raising demand of placing civil bureacrats or police officers in command. Bowing to such demand of the mutineers, Bangladesh government appointed one Deputy Assistant Director of BDR named Mohammed Towhid as the acting Director General. It may be recalled here that, Weekly Blitz was the first newspaper to cover the death news of Major General Shakil Ahmed Chowdhury, the director general of the para-millitary troop.

Commenting on the General Amnesty offered by the Prime Minister to the mutineer troops, editor of Weekly Blitz said, the government might have offered the amnesty just for breaking the discipline. But, the cases of murder, rapes, torture and lootings shall surely not come under such amnesty. The offenders of such henious crime, who could brutally murder the officers and commit other serious crimes, should definitely be tried. No law shows sympathy to a killer or rapist.

He said, the way of behavior of Bangladesh Riffles mutineers were similar to those notoriety of Nazi Forces led by Hitler. In this case, intelligence agencies in Bangladesh should surely make a comprehensive investigation into the entire matter and find out the masterminds of this unforgivable crime.

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