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BGB distributes relief

Admin — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 17:57:00 +0000

The Border Guard Bangladesh distributed various relief goods and provided emergency medical services to flood-affected people in the country on Friday.
BGB’s Sunamganj battalion distributed relief goods among around 600 families at Baliakandi village of Surma union, and Birampur village of Rangarchar union in Sunamganj sadar upazila, said a press release on .
Relief goods were also distributed among 370 families in Chanpur, Baliaghata, and Lauergarh areas of Tahirpur upazila.
Besides, cooked foods were distributed among 150 flood-affected families around Sunamganj battalion sadar.
At the same time, a medical team from the BGB provided free medical services and medicine to 450 people in Tekerghat area of Tahirpur upazila.
Meanwhile, the Sylhet battalion distributed relief among 100 families at Doarbazar upazila and 100 families at Jaintapur upazila in Sunamganj.
Relief goods were also distributed among 400 families in the flood-hit border areas of Jaintapur and Kanaighat upazilas in Sylhet.
Apart from Sylhet and Sunamganj, BGB is working to help flood victims in Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Netrakona, and other flood-hit areas.
BGB has introduced two toll-free numbers, 01769600555 and 01889600555, to assist the flood victims.

– With New Age input

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Nation pays homage to BDR carnage victims

Admin — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 11:11:52 +0000

The nation yesterday mourned the death of 74 people, including 57 army officers, during the BDR carnage on February 25-26 in 2009.
Placing wreaths at the capital’s Banani army graveyard, family members of the victims yesterday expressed disappointment that the verdict of the BDR carnage case was yet to be executed.
Representatives of the president and prime minister, the home minister, chiefs of three services, senior home secretary, BGB director general, and leaders of the Awami League and BNP paid their tributes at the graveyard.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters at the graveyard that the verdict would be executed properly.
The mutiny in 2009 shocked the nation. A total of 829 people, mostly BDR members, were accused in the carnage case filed later.
On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced 148 BDR members and two civilians to death, 160 to life in prison, and 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers, to rigorous imprisonment.
The court acquitted 278, but the prosecutors later appealed against the acquittal of 69.

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Maj Gen Shakil new BGB chief

Admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:09:11 +0000

Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed has been appointed as the new director general of Border Guard Bangladesh. The public administration ministry yesterday issued a circular in this regard The current BGB DG Maj Gen Shafeenul Islam will return to the army, it added. Prior to this, Maj Gen Shakil served as the director general of the ... Read more

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Bangladeshi dies after ‘BSF torture’

Admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 05:34:26 +0000

The Indian Border Security Force once again killed a Bangladeshi unarmed civilian near the Shingnagar frontier of Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj on Sunday, a day
after BSF assurance of zero causality on border.
The Indian Border Security Force on Saturday reassured Bangladesh that they would continue their efforts to bring down casualties to zero level on the Indo-Bangladesh
border.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Hannan, 25, son of Tofzul Mia of Char Hasanpur-Ayub Biswasertola in the upazila.
A patrol team of BSF caught Hannan around 4:15am when he was entering Indian territory through Shinganagr border to collect cattle, said Border Guard Bangladesh.
The BSF personnel took him to their Doulatpur camp and beat him up, leaving him seriously injured.
As his condition was deteriorating fast, the BSF men left him along the border area around 6:00am.
Locals rescued from the zero line and rushed him to Shibganj Upazila Health Complex. He died in the afternoon.

-With New Age input

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India regrets, but blames Bangladesh nationals for border deaths

Admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:12:33 +0000

India on Tuesday claimed its Border Security Force opened fired in ‘self defence’ that resulted in killings of three Bangladesh nationals involved in ‘illegal activities’.
However, India regrets all incidents of death of Bangladesh and Indian nationals on the border of the two countries, Indian external affairs ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The country requested Bangladesh to take measures to restrict the movement of its people along the border, especially in night, to avoid incidents of death along the border.
‘The government of India regrets all incidents of death on the border of Indian and Bangladesh nationals,’ the official spokesperson of the external affairs ministry said, according to Indian high commission in Dhaka.
India made the statement in the wake of incidents of firing by BSF personnel resulting in the death of three Bangladesh nationals along the border in Kurigram and Dinajpur districts on December 16 and 17.
The spokesperson said India had taken various steps including strict control on firing, introduction of non-lethal weapons, round-the-clock ‘domination’ and intensive patrolling. It has also imposed night time restrictions on movement of people in the border areas.
‘Unfortunately, this policy of restraint has emboldened criminal elements who have stepped up their attacks on BSF personnel deployed along the border in order to facilitate their illegal activities,’ the statement read.
A number of attacks have been recorded on BSF personnel and posts along the India-Bangladesh border over the last few months, it claimed.
‘In the recent incident at Malda [opposite to Kurigram of Bangladesh], a group of around 50-60 miscreants involved in illegal activity [,] not only pelted stones when challenged by the BSF jawan on duty at his post [,] but also tried to drag him towards the Bangladesh side of the international boundary. Sensing imminent danger to his life, his two colleagues fired four rounds in all resulting in the miscreants fleeing the scene leaving the BSF jawan behind,’ India claimed.
‘In the other incident at Coochbehar [opposite to Dinajpur of Bangladesh], around 30-40 miscreants involved in illegal activity attacked a BSF jawan with bamboo sticks and dahs, when challenged by him. Sensing imminent danger to his life, the BSF jawan first hurled a non-lethal stun grenade and then as a last resort opened fire at the armed miscreants in self-defence,’ it stated.
Both incidents took place 200 to 250 metres from the international boundary inside Indian territory, New Delhi claimed.
Illegal activities, which sometimes lead to regrettable loss of lives on both sides along the border, need to be addressed through joint collaborative efforts and mechanisms, the spokesperson added.

-With New Age input

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BSF says 7 killed in 2011, reports say 21

Admin — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:58:09 +0000

BSF assures BGB of ending border killing
India’s Border Security Force director general Raman Shrivastava on Friday reassured his Bangladesh counterpart of ending the killing of Bangladeshis in the frontiers.
Raman at a joint briefing at the Border Guard Bangladesh headquarters in Dhaka after the director general-level meeting between the BGB and the BSF said that the border killing was unfortunate and they regretted it. The meeting began on September 26.
‘We have no intention of killing… What you say killing is actually not killing but death… It has come down significantly,’ he claimed.
He also claimed that the border killing was gradually decreasing and the number was 55 in 2009 but in 2011 so far, the number came down to 7.
The BSF arrested 685 Bangladeshis in 2009, 1638 in 2010 and 2,300 in 2011, he said.
There were 333 instances of fence-cutting in 2008, 566 in 2009, 924 in 2010 and 637 in 2010, said the BSF chief.
Rights activists, however, have doubted the BSF chief’s commitment as he quoted ‘wrong statistics’ about the borders killings.
According to rights organisation Odhikar, 21 Bangladeshis were killed by the BSF and six more by Indian civilians in the frontiers between January 1 and August 31, 2011.
According to figures available with Odhikar, 998 Bangladeshis were killed, 996 injured, 226 arrested, 957 abducted and 14 raped by BSF personnel or Indian hooligans and 107 went missing after being attacked allegedly by them between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2011.
Of the victims, 75 were killed and 335 injured by
the Indian civilians while BSF personnel were responsible for other remaining incidents.
Between January 6, 2009 and August 31, 2011, a total of 200 Bangladeshis were killed, 215 injured, 74 abducted and a woman was raped in the frontiers.
Of the victims, 7 were killed and 15 injured by the Indian civilians while others were made victim by the BSF, the Odhikar report says.
The Border Guard Bangladesh director general, Anwar Hossain, also contested the figure of killing given by the Border Security Force.
He told New Age that the actual figure was much more than seven, as claimed by the BSF chief.
The killing and other human rights violations by the BSF in the borders still go unabated despite repeated pledges made by the Indian authorities.
Promising an end to border killings, Raman on March 12 said, ‘Non-lethal weapons will be given to the border guards in sensitive areas of the India-Bangladesh frontiers.’
He made the remarks at a joint press briefing after a five-day meeting between the director generals in New Delhi.
On Friday, Raman also said that the BSF had introduced non-lethal weapons in many places to stop border killings.
‘Following the announcement,’ Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman said, ‘the BSF has now resorted to the medieval tactic of killing Bangladeshis, by stoning and stabbing, and hitting them with rifle butts or running speeding boats over them.’
The BSF has, however, killed 16 unarmed Bangladeshis till August 31 since Raman made the remarks.
At Friday’s briefing, BGB director general Anwar Hossain said that border killings were unacceptable and such killings hampered good neighbourly relations.
‘It has for long been a source of tension between the two countries but it has come down after the summit between the two prime ministers that was held in early September in Dhaka,’ he said.
He also said, ‘India has assured us that they would take necessary steps to stop such killings.’
The BGB follows international norms and never open fire on Indian civilians who cross the borders, the BGB chief said. ‘In case of illegal border crossing, we arrest the persons.’
The BSF has been asked to follow such international norms, he said.
Anwar said that there were some problems when the Tin Bigha Corridor was opened for 24 hours but ‘things are now okay.’
India announced unfettered access to Dahagram and Angarpota through the Tin Bigha Corridor during the visit of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh in September 6-7.
There will be coordinated efforts to manage the long and porous border and a management plan has already been developed, the BGB chief said.
‘The BGB and the BSF have agreed to control drug and human trafficking and illegal movement along the border,’ he said.
The BSF chief said that joint border management would get a complete shape by October 31.
India has handed over a list of criminals and insurgents and forged currency traffickers to Bangladesh and urged action against them, he said appreciating Bangladesh for taking action in this regard.
He said forged currency was not made in Bangladesh rather it was used as transit to reach India.
Anwar said that in 2010, the BSF had handed over some lists but subsequent operations did not yield much of a result. ‘We will hunt the criminals.’

-With New Age input

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847 charged with BDR carnage

Admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:30:21 +0000

A Dhaka court on Wednesday posted for August 24 the beginning of the trial of the 847 people after the the court on the day had completed their indictment with murder and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in Dhaka in February 25-26, 2009.
The trial will begin with the recording of the depositions of prosecution witnesses.
Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Mohammad Jahurul Haque ordered the plaintiff of the case to appear before it on August 24 to make his deposition as the first prosecution witness.
The court on Wednesday indicted 107 of the accused by reading out their charges and the court asked whether the accused pleaded guilty.
None of the accused, however, pleaded guilty.
On July 20 and 27, the court framed charges against 749 out of the total 847 accused in the case, including former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali, and a number of deputy assistant directors, for murder and 25 other criminal offences committed during the rebellion.
The court on Wednesday started framing charges against the accused in the makeshift courthouse set up in the Aliya Madrassah ground at Bakshi Bazar in the capital amid tightened security.
During the framing of charges, accused Atikur Rahman told the court that he had been on vacation in February 19-27, 2009.
Following departmental investigation, he was cleared of the BDR mutiny charge, Atikur Rahman told the court.
The court replied, ‘You may ask the question later on.’
The court told a sepoy, Al Amin, ‘You have made a statement before a magistrate.’
Al Amin replied that he did not make any statement in court but he was interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department.
After the indictment, the chief prosecutor Anisul Haq told the court that 20 of the accused were still in hiding.
The court later started framing charge against the accused under the supplementary charge sheet.
The accused named in the supplementary charge sheet told the court that he had been detained for 15 months and 5 days after the mutiny in the headquarters of the border force.
He was released later and his commanding officer suspended him, the accused told the court.
‘Five months after my suspension, the authorities called me and asked to be a witness. As I refused to do so, I was made accused,’ said the accused, who used to work as a cook in the border force headquarters.
Nayek subedar Rafiqul Islam, convicted in a mutiny case, told the court that they had held an inter-intelligence meeting on February 22, 2009 fearing trouble.
‘People of all the intelligence agencies attended the meeting at the headquarters but only some rifle security unit members such as us were implicated in the case,’ said Rafiqul Islam, who was dismissed from the security unit, which is now renamed as BG Security Force, after his conviction.
The Criminal Investigation Department, however, cleared him after the preliminary investigation, he told the court.
‘If all intelligence agencies feared the rebellion, why am I the only one to be victimised?’ Rafiqul told the court.
He gave an assurance that justice would be meted out in keeping with the law and asked the defence prosecutors not to waste time during the trial.
Of the accused, 829, including Nasir Uddin and Torab Ali, a retired subedar, were present in the courtroom.
Three of the accused have, meanwhile, died and they were not indicted. The court also asked the prosecution to publish advertisements in national daily newspapers asking the 20 of the accused still in hiding to be present in the court.
The Criminal Investigation Department pressed charges in two cases – one filed under the Penal Code for murder, arson, robbery and other crimes and the other filed under the Explosive Substances Act for illegally taking up arms – against 850 border guard personnel and civilians.
After the completion of indictment of the 847 accused, the prosecution counsel sought permission to read out the names of 831 of the accused to frame charges against them under Section 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act.
Citing the legal bindings, the defence counsel, Faruque Ahmed, told the court that the framing of charges under the act would be ‘illegal.’
The court, however, stopped him.
Following the court permission, the prosecution counsel started reading out of the names but the defence counsel, Faruque Ahmed, objected to the way of reading.
Sustaining the objection, the court asked the prosecution to read out the names properly.
After the names had been read out, the court asked the prosecution to define the time, place and manner of the case.
The chief prosecutor, Anisul Haq, briefed on the case.
Seventy-five people, including 57 army officers, were killed at the BDR headquarters during the 2009 rebellion.

-With New Age input

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310 more people indicted

Admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:17:45 +0000

A Dhaka court on Wednesday charged 310 more people with murder and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in February 25–26, 2009.
With the 310, the court has so far charged 740 people, including civilians and border guard soldiers out total 847 accused in the case.
Earlier on July 20, the court framed charges against 430 people, including former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali, and a number of deputy assistant directors for murder and 25 other criminal offences committed during the rebellion.
Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Mohammad Jahurul Haque on Wednesday began framing charges against the accused persons by reading out their charges and the court asked whether the accused pleaded guilty or not. None of the accused pleaded guilty.
The court started framing charges against the accused at the makeshift courthouse set up on the Aliya Madrassah ground at Bakshi Bazar in the capital amid tightened security, power outages and excessive hot weather on the day.
The court read out the charges against the accused individually in the overcrowded room till 1:05pm with two breaks including a 30-minute break for power outage.
Most of the accused wanted to say something when the charges were being framed but the court did not allow anyone to speak.
The court did not pay heed to their speech and just asked, ‘Tell me, you pled guilty or not.’
A middle-aged civilian accused, Javed, told the court that there was nobody to whom ‘we can tell our plight… I was picked up from a roadside tea-stall by the law enforcers one year ago on charge of BDR carnage and I was implicated with the charges…’
The court did not allow him to complete his sentence and asked him to answer whether he pleaded guilty or not.
s the court asked accused Subedar Elias whether he was accused or not, he replied, ‘I was asked to be one of the witnesses of the case. As I denied doing so, I was made an accused.’
During framing of charges, Arshad Ali, another accused, requested the court to tell him the number of witnesses to the charges brought against him.
But the court denied telling him the number of witnesses set for him, saying, ‘There is no opportunity to do so.’
Many of the accused told the court that they were arrested one year after the mutiny took place in their headquarters.
Nayeb Subedar Nurul Islam told the court that he was arrested one year after the mutiny took place in the headquarters while he was not involve with mutiny.
During the proceedings, an apparently sick accused, Nayek Shahidul, told the court that he was suffering from diabetics, paralysis and other diseases.
He applied to the court for a directive so that his fetters and shackle, and hand-cuff could be removed. The court, however, did not give any directives.
At once, one of defence counsels, Sultan Mahmud, approached the dais and requested the court to consider the rights of the accused as they were most of the time kept with hand-cuffs, fetters and shackles.
As excessive heat made the court proceedings difficult, some defence counsels, including Faruque Ahmed and Sultan Mahmud, at about 1:00pm requested the court to adjourn the proceedings for the day.
The court agreed to adjourn the proceedings. ‘It is very hot. We are uncomfortable due to excessive heat and the accused are hungry,’ the presiding judge said while adjourning the proceedings till August 10.
But one of the prosecutors, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, snatching the microphone from the defence lawyers, repeatedly requested the court to continue with a short break. The court, however, denied continuing.
Of the accused, 829 including Nasir Uddin and Torab Ali, a retired Subedar, were present in the courtroom.
The Criminal Investigation Department filed two cases — one under the Penal Code for murder, arson, robbery and other crimes and the other under the Explosive Substances Act for illegally taking up arms — against 850 border guard personnel and civilians.
Three of the accused have meanwhile died and they were not indicted. Twenty of the accused are still in hiding.
A total of 75 people, including 57 army officers, were killed at Pilkhana, the headquarters of the BDR in course of the mutiny on February 25-26, 2009.

-With New Age input

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HRW calls for ensuring fair trial for BDR mutiny defendants

Admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:14:53 +0000

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged the government to immediately stop mass trials of the alleged mutineers of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed Border Guard Bangladesh, on February 25-26, 2009 to ensure fair trial.
The US-based rights watchdog in a statement said that those responsible for killing 75 people during the February 2009 mutiny by the border guard should be held accountable and the the courts must meet international fair trial standards.
The rights organisation expressed concern at the mass trial completed on June 27, 2011, in which 666 members of the 24th Border Guard Battalion were tried by a BGB tribunal, a ‘military court.
All but nine were found guilty and sentenced to terms ranging from four months to seven years in prison.
‘It is impossible to try hundreds of people at the same time and expect anything resembling a fair trial,’ said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
‘The massacre shocked Bangladesh, but each of the accused should only be found guilty if the government provides specific evidence against them,’ he added.
On February 25-26, 2009, members of the paramilitary force had staged a rebellion that killed 75 people, including 57 officers from the army.
The accused have been held and prosecuted in violation of Bangladesh’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Many were detained without charge for several months, said Adams.
He further alleged that the government did not produce individualised evidence against each detainee while all the 6,000 accused faced trials before special BDR tribunals created after the massacre.
Some 847 of the accused also face charges under the Bangladesh criminal code, some of which carry death penalty, he pointed out.
The rights group documented the deaths of some of the accused in custody in the first few months after the mutiny.
The detainees’ lack of access to counsel remains a serious concern, said HRW.
From the time they were arrested in February 2009 until December 2010, the accused in the mutiny cases were not allowed to consult with their lawyers.
Since then, they have been allowed a 20-minute consultation at the beginning and end of each court day and a 30-minute consultation in between.
Many of the accused in both the military and civilian cases have no legal counsel, in some cases for financial reasons and in others for lack of information.
Lawyers involved in the cases have complained to the HRW that it was impossible to provide an effective defense to each accused with so many clients and so little time to talk to each accused.
The possible use of capital punishment in the upcoming criminal trial of the 847 accused heightens fair trial concerns, it said.
According to the prosecutor’s office, some defendants share their lawyers with as many as 12 others in the same case.
In addition to the concerns about time for consultations, the potential for conflict of interest is significant, as evidence that could prove one person’s innocence could indicate another’s guilt.
The rights group opposed the death penalty in all cases as a fundamentally cruel and irreversible punishment.
‘The BDR mutiny was ugly and brutal, but the current approach appears to be a witch hunt against a group rather than an attempt to identify the individuals responsible for specific crimes,’ Adams said.
‘The government should rethink its approach to make sure the masterminds and perpetrators of serious offenses are brought to fair trial, but end the prosecutions of the rank-and-file who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ said the Asia director of HRW.

-With New Age input

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Bangladeshi youth beaten to death in India

Admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 04:25:12 +0000

A youth, who went missing on Thursday from a border village, was allegedly beaten to death inside the Indian territory yesterday morning, said the officials of Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB).
The deceased Md Hafizur Rahman 30, was son of Fazlur Rahman of village Khanpur under Dinajpur Sadar upazila.
Maj Muntasir, acting commanding officer of Dinajpur-2 Battalion of BGB, confirmed the incident. The body is now under Gangarampur police custody in India, he said adding India has taken step to send back the body to Bangladesh.
According to the BGB sources, the members of Border Security Force (BSF) of Bhathuria camp recovered the body from near the border pillar no 316 around 10:00am after he was allegedly beaten to death in the early morning, BGB officials said quoting their Indian counterpart.
BGB officials of Dinajpur-2 battalion protested the incident.
A tense situation was prevailing at the area.
Our Satkhira correspondent adds: A Bangladeshi cattle trader sustained bullet injury after BSF members opened fire targeting him at Pakirdanga, opposite of Gazipur border in Satkhira Sadar upazila around 3:30am.
Injured Shahadat Hossain, 25, son of Abdul Karim Morol of village Bharukhali, however, managed to enter into the Bangladesh territory.
He is now under treatment at a local private clinic, Abdul Karim Morol said.
Lt Col Enayet, commanding officer of 41 battalion of BGB, confirmed the incident.

Courtesy of The Daily Star

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