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| Bangladesh |
| Over a thousand BDR men charged with mutiny |
| 2009-03-02 |
| Lalbagh police Saturday night filed a case against over a thousand Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) members for their links to the mutiny at BDR headquarters in Pilkhana. Those who face the charges include Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Touhidul Alam, DAD Nasiruddin Khan, DAD Mirza Habibur Rahman, DAD Abdul Jalil, jawan Abdur Rahim and jawan Selim. Lalbagh Police Station's Officer-In-Charge Nobojyoti Khisha filed the case that was shifted to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday. Police sources said so far they could identify several accused from footages aired on different television channels and pictures published in dailies. Of those accused, Touhid led a team of mutineers to talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to end the mutiny. The complainant, in the case story, said the accused committed the offences in a planned way and it is tantamount to treason. The charges include killing army officers, their family members and civilians, looting, arson, exploding grenades, hiding bodies, holding people hostage, and destroying properties. The case statement also said the rebel border guards being instigated by vested quarters committed the crimes to destabilise the state and make unlawful gains. It went on to say that the accused led by DAD Touhid incited the rebellion at the Darbar hall at the BDR headquarters in the name of realising demands where about 3,000 border guards from across the country were present. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Kolkata/Dhaka: Faced with an unprecedented crisis, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rushed to the Dhaka cantonment on Sunday in an attempt to pacify the Bangladesh Army that is seething for revenge. Army officers repeatedly interrupted her two-hour speech with angry outbursts, but she kept her cool and promised tough action against those involved in the massacre and the agent provocateurs. After Hasina left, the government announced that 1,000 BDR personnel were being tried for the “planned and orchestrated murders”. But the crisis isn’t over. Anger is mounting in the army as the toll climbed to 100 and reports came in that in some cases, women were tortured before being killed in the BDR headquarters. Army chief Moeen U Ahmed was reportedly shoved and fell during a heated argument with his officers on Saturday. In the last 24 hours, he has twice offered to resign but was dissuaded by his senior colleagues. There are serious concerns about rifts in the army ranks. Adding to this is the worry that anti-India elements are gunning for the Hasina government and trying to garner support among the rank and file. Of the 73 slain army officers identified so far (bodies are still being recovered), at least 33 had taken part in anti-Jamiat operations. An anti-India campaign has already started, with pro-Jamiat news channel ‘Diganta’ taking the lead. Investigation has revealed clearly that a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was smuggled into the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana before the mutiny. Stocktaking after the surrender of mutineers has yielded weapons and ammo in excess of what was officially in the armoury. Besides, the mutiny leaders seen at gates 1, 2 and 3 — wearing red, green and yellow masks — were not from the BDR headquarters. They were either called in from other sectors for the mutiny or were rank outsiders. Investigation has also revealed that on February 23 or 24, some outsiders had entered the BDR HQ, apparently for a religious ceremony. No one saw them leave. The BDR HQ in Pilkhana has a capacity of 4,500 but on the day the mutiny broke out, there were over 10,000 personnel from 12 sectors inside. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-02 14:41 |
| #4 Thanks for the summary, john frum. I was away with 'hardware issues' when the festivities started and was wondering about the background. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-03-02 14:34 |
| #3 BDR (Bangladeshi Rifles) is a paramilitary Border Patrol force. Its officers are on deputation from the Bangla Army. BDR pay scales are far below army soldiers of same rank. In addition, they are not sent for UN tour of duty (unlike army), depriving them of much valued UN salary. The previous regime and their Islamist allies staffed the BDR with their goons. Enter the Jaamat-Islami. They have been stoking the flames of discontent. Enter the ISI (with plans for the BD regime). Some sort of insurrection was planned by the Islamist leaders using the pay issue to motivate the followers. Enter the Indian BSF. They have accelerated fencing, depriving the BDR of a lot of their smuggling revenue. Enter the Bangla PM. She visits the BDR and warns them of smuggling. Asks them for loyalty. So, cut to last week. The BDR commander is reviewing a parade. A soldier interupts him with a protest about their pay. Asks him why he has not followed up on the previous promises. Soldier is quick marched to the cells. Mutiny begins. Officers are killed left and right. Shot, mutilated. Heads crushed. Bodies dumped in the sewers. Wives are raped. BDR is now run by a Subedar Major. That is a JCO rank. He is running a force of 40,000. All the Army officers have refused to take command. The army brought in the RAB. You can guess why their skills will be needed. Many thousands of opposition Islamists and BDR will pay the price for all this. The army will not take this silently. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-02 14:21 |
| #2 I've been out of the loop writing my new book. What the heck happened? Another Sepoy Rebellion? More pig fat on the cartridges? |
| Posted by: James Carville 2009-03-02 10:35 |
| #1 The charges include killing ..., looting, arson, exploding grenades, hiding bodies, holding people hostage, and destroying properties. Sounds rather like Devil's Night in Detroit. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-03-02 00:44 |