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| Bangladesh |
| Over 1,500 BDR men back before time |
| 2009-03-02 |
| Over 1,500 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) men, who left the Pilkhana headquarters during or after the mutiny, reported back to the headquarters yesterday. The deadline set for them to report back expired yesterday afternoon. Apart from them, 140 BDR men reported to police stations, sector headquarters and battalion headquarters in Rajshahi, Sylhet Dinajpur, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Pabna, Barisal and Chittagong yesterday. Four BDR jawans surrendered at police stations in Sylhet and Joydevpur while Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two jawans in Comilla and Faridpur yesterday. They started gathering at the Pilkhana headquarters following a home ministry order issued Saturday asking all BDR members, who did not take leave but are absent at their stations, to report back within 24 hours. "I assume between 1,500 and 2,000 jawans gathered at the BDR headquarters. We do not have any official count yet," newly appointed Director General (DG) of BDR Brig Gen Moinul Hossain said. "Those who have already entered the headquarters will be considered reported back. Some of them are being given leave while others will start working with us," he added. A number of BDR jawans, who returned yesterday, said many of them were given 15 to 30 days' leave with instructions to come back to the headquarters when summoned. Only 24 BDR jawans were allowed to join work yesterday. Talking to The Daily Star, a number of BDR jawans, who returned to the BDR headquarters in plain clothes, claimed that they left their uniforms in or around the headquarters before fleeing in plain clothes on Wednesday and Thursday. They appeared to be very worried about their future and feared many innocent jawans could become victims if the enquiry is not conducted impartially. A number of them had their family members with them. They also looked anxious. Those in uniform were asked to report at Gate-4 near Jigatola while the rest at Abahani ground in Dhanmondi. All of the BDR men in plain clothes at Abahani ground could not be listed as reported back yesterday; they were asked to come again this morning. Around 500 BDR men reported back to the BDR headquarters with their uniforms on. Talking to The Daily Star, the BDR jawans in uniform claimed that most of them had fled just after the mutiny broke out on Wednesday. Some of them were also on leave that day. |
| Posted by:Fred |