The paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) is set to be renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officially as the BGB act would come into effect in a couple of days following President Zillur Rahman’s formal approval yesterday.
Sources say after the bill was signed, the president’s office, Bangabhaban, sent it to the Parliament Secretariat for a gazette notification.
Upon getting the signed copy of the bill, the home ministry would sent it to the BG Press for the gazette notification and the law will be effective once the gazette is notified, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder told The Daily Star.
As part of reforms of the paramilitary force, the new act was passed in parliament on December 8 keeping provisions of capital punishment for mutiny instead of seven-year imprisonment and changing its name BGB with new logo and uniform.
Once the act comes into effect, any border guard committing any crime will face trial under the new law.
BDR Director General Rafiqul Islam told The Daily Star that major changes have been brought into the new act.
“From now on activities of border guards will be decentralised. The entire force will be divided into and operated under four zones,” he said.
The government moved to enact the new law after the bloody BDR mutiny at its Pilkhana headquarters on February 25-26 last year that killed over 74 people including 57 army officers.
The current Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Order, 1972 and Bangladesh Rifles (Special Provision) Ordinance, 1976 have already been annulled with the passage of the new law. But the trial on charge of last year’s mutiny will be conducted under the BDR order, 1972.
The new law defines mutiny as two or more people disobeying valid orders from the authorities, challenging or obstructing them, expressing their legal or illegal dissatisfactions to the authorities or making any attempts to commit any of the above.
“If the BDR personnel currently facing trial attempt to launch any mutiny during the trial proceedings, they will be tried under the new law,” Lt Col Shamsur Rahman, prosecutor of the Special Court-7, said after trial proceedings of the 24 Rifle Battalion at Pilkhana Darbar Hall yesterday.
Earlier, the Special Court-7 headed by the BDR DG resumed the trial proceedings at around 9:00am which continued for about four hours.
Thirty-seven accused of the 24 Rifle Battalion cross-examined two witnesses, while one pleaded himself guilty before the court.
Sepoy Ahasanullah, who pleaded himself guilty, was charged for carrying arms and leaving Darbar Hall defying the order of the then DG.
“I was not aware that leaving the Darbar would count as an act of mutiny. I was compelled to carry the firearms,” said Ahasanullah seeking mercy from the court that noted his plea.
Among the 667 accused of 24 Rifle Battalion, 31 have so far pleaded guilty before the court since the trial began on March 31.
The trial proceedings were adjourned till 9:00am today.
