Eleven BGB soldiers of the 46 Border Guard Battalion at Patnitola were on Sunday sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for varying terms on charges of the February 2009 mutiny in Naogaon.
The court, presided over by the Rajshahi sector commander, Colonel Ehia Azam Khan, also fined each of the convicts Tk 100 in the judgement delivered in a makeshift courtroom about 11:00am.
The court jailed sepoy Alamgir Hossain for seven years, subedar Shah Jalal for four years, nayek Harunur Rashid and sepoy Shakin Shah for three years each, sepoy Kamrul Hasan for two years, sepoy Nazrul Islam for a year and a half, sepoy Mohammad Zakaria, lance nayek Fakir Eshaque, naib subedar Harunur Rashid and sepoy Hridoy Hossain for a year each and sepoy Kamal Hossain for six months.
Six of the accused had earlier pleaded guilty before the court on February 26, 2009 and sought compassion.
The then Naogaon police officer-in charge, Aminul Islam, filed the case with the chief judicial magistrate’s court against the mutineers of the battalion on May 17, 2009.
The mutineers were later arrested and produced in court which sent them to jail, said the prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel Anwar Shafique, also the battalion commander.
In the case statement, the complainant alleged that the accused had revolted against their officers and took control of the battalion headquarters on February 26, 2009.
They looted arms from the battalion armoury and fired blank shots, he added.
On January 26, the court completed recording depositions of 13 prosecution witnesses in the mutiny case. Arguments between the prosecution witnesses and the 11 accused were also held on the day.
Lieutenant Colonel Gazi Khalid Hossain and Lieutenant Commander Touhidul Islam were the other judges of the special court, which was assisted by the deputy attorney, Shashankhao Shekhar, as a representative of the attorney general.
In the BGB headquarters in Dhaka, the special court 10, presided over by Colonel Khandakar Obaidul Ahsan, a BGB director, meanwhile on Sunday, read out charges against 211 out of 310 soldiers of the 36 Border Guard Battalion in connection with the February 2009 mutiny case.
The court started reading out the charges at Darbar Hall at the BGB headquarters about 9:00am, the prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel Tariq Imam Siddique, said.
The court adjourned the proceedings till February 22.
Meanwhile, 46 out of the 113 accused members of the Border Security Unit cross-examined four witnesses in special court 7, presided over by the BGB director general, Major General Rafiqul Islam.
The proceedings were also adjourned till February 22.
Courtesy of New Age
