HC rule for forming commission to re-investigate BDR carnage

The High Court has issued a ruling asking the government to explain why it would not order forming a commission to re-investigate the BDR carnage in Pilkhana.

An HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued the rule following a preliminary hearing of a writ petition on Tuesday (November 5). Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Tanvir Ahmed filed the writ petition.

The writ calls for a deeper investigation into the events of February 25-26, 2009, which led to the deaths of 74 individuals, including 57 army officers, at the BDR headquarters.

Advocate Ahmed argued that the people of the country want to know the truth behind the killings, as prior investigations have left questions unanswered.

According to the petition, when the interim government assumed office, an adviser from the Ministry of Home Affairs had proposed a re-investigation into the mutiny. However, no action has been taken yet, prompting the filing of the writ petition.

On 25-26 February 2009, a mutiny in the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) left 74 people, including 57 army officers, murdered at its Pilkhana headquarters in the capital.

On 5 November 2013, a Dhaka court handed down death sentences to 150 BDR members and two civilians, and life imprisonment to 160 others in this connection.

On 27 November 2017, the High Court confirmed the death penalty for 139 out of the 152 convicts.

Following the heinous killings of the army officers, the government renamed the mutiny-hit paramilitary force BDR as the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), changing its logo as well as uniform.