The Special Court-10 of the Bangladesh Rifles on Wednesday framed charges against 256 medical personnel and other soldiers from attached units at the BDR Hospital for the February 2009 mutiny in the BDR headquarters in Dhaka.
After framing the charges the three-member special court, presided over by the BDR’s director (administration) Colonel Khandakar Obaidul Ahsan, posted 27 February, 2011 for starting proceedings by recording the depositions of witnesses.
All the 256 BDR members, including 181 personnel of the medical unit and 75 soldiers of attached units, pleaded not guilty and sought justice from the court in the makeshift courtroom in BDR’s Durbar Hall in the Pilkhana.
When the court was asking every accused individual whether he was guilty or not, accused Zakir Hossain told the court that he is blind and was under treatment during the mutiny.
The attorney-general’s representative, deputy attorney-general Suhrawardy, who assisted the court, asked the prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Aleem, why Zakir has been accused of mutiny.
The prosecutor told the court that Zakir was admitted with eye problems to a ward in the BDR Hospital before the mutiny, but he left without permission during the mutiny and used abusive words and made statements that instigated the mutineers.
Abdul Aleem told New Age that Zakir was not blind during the mutiny but became visually impaired later on.
‘Though Sepoy Zakir did not take up arms, he used abusive words and made instigating statements which revealed his involvement in the mutiny,’ said the prosecutor.
The court completed reading out the individual charges on the third consecutive day on Wednesday in the presence of the 265 soldiers who were handcuffed in pairs, except 42 charge-sheeted soldiers who were in shackles and were wearing civil dress.
Of the 256 mutiny suspects, 84 soldiers of various ranks from Sepoy to Subedar Major who were present at the annual congress in the Durbar Hall on February 25 were accused of disobeying the then director-general Major General Shakil Ahmed’s command not to leave the hall and of joining the mutiny.
Some 14 personnel, including medical assistant Torab Hosain Khan and JCO Monaranjan Sarkar, were accused of carrying the bodies of the slain army officers and dumping them into mass graves.
Some 55 soldiers were accused of not discharging their assigned duty, 80 of directly joining the mutineers and 38 of possessing arms, ammunition and grenades.
The prosecutor accused nine soldiers, who were admitted to the BDR Hospital when the mutiny began, of making provocative statements against the senior officers.
Two other members of the court, Lieutenant Colonel Nurul Alam and Major ASM Kawsar, were present during the proceedings.
The proceedings were made audible to all the accused in the very large courtroom through loudspeakers which also had television and projector screens.
The accused were sent back to various jails, including Dhaka Central Jail and Kashimpur Jail, after the court was adjourned for the day.
On 29 April, 2010 complainant Nannu Miah, a junior commissioned officer, raised allegations of mutiny against the BDR medical personnel.
The Criminal Investigation Department pressed charges against 42 of the 256 accused for murder, looting, vandalism, arson and other crimes during the mutiny, and their trial will be conducted by a Speedy Trial Tribunal in January 2011.
The CID on July 12 pressed charges against 801 BDR soldiers and 23 civilians for committing murder during the mutiny.
