Want immediate execution of sentences
Family members of 57 slain army officials who were brutally killed in a Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny at the BDR Headquarters in Peelkhana expressed their satisfaction over the BDR verdict and demanded its immediate execution. As many as 74 people, including high-ranking to mid-ranking 57 army officials, were killed in the mutiny on February 25 and 26, 2009. The then director general of the border forces, Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed, and his wife were also killed. The mutiny had also triggered revolt in other garrisons across the country.
On Wednesday, a court in Dhaka awarded death penalty to 152 people, including a deputy assistant director of the BDR, and life imprisonment to 161 others for their role in the carnage at the Peelkhana headquarters.
Those who have been sentenced to life in prison include former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and ward-level AL leader Torab Ali. The court also awarded three to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to 262 people, including BDR personnel.
The family members of a number of slain BDR officials, including Col. Mazid, Colonel Abdul Aziz, Col. Arefin, Col. Kazi Emdadul Haque, Col. Anis, Col. Mijibul Haque, Lt. Col. Inshad, Lt. Col. Shamsul Azam, Maj. Mosaddek, Maj. Mosharaf Hossain and Maj. Saleh Mohammad Kawsar were present during the pronouncement of the verdict.
Expressing satisfaction over the verdict, Naznin Emdad, widow of Col. Kazi Emdadul Haque, told reporters, “The investigators should reveal the name of the killers as I have the right to know the name of the killer of my husband.”
Nehrin Ferdousy, widow of Col. Mijibul Haque, said, “We wanted a transparent judgement. We’re are satisfied regarding the verdict. We expect that the state would execute the verdict as soon as possible.”
Rehena Matin, widow of Lt. Col. Inshad, told reporters, “Pronouncement of a verdict and its execution are not the same thing. We’ll be satisfied after the verdict is properly executed.”
Nasrin Ahmed, widow of Maj. Saleh Mohammad Kawsar, said, “We want to know the actual reasons behind the gruesome killing. The officially given reasons were not the actual reasons. There were must others reasons behind the merciless massacre.”
“We’ll be satisfied if the state execute the verdict as soon as possible,” she added.
It may be mentioned that the BDR was later renamed as the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).
-With The Independent input
