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| Bangladesh |
| Hundreds of sepoys show up after deadline |
| 2009-03-03 |
| Several thousand BDR men who left the Pilkhana headquarters during or after the mutiny were found waiting in front of Jhigatala BDR gate with grave anxiety yesterday though the deadline set for them to report back expired Sunday afternoon. Around 1600 BDR men reported back to the headquarters till 6:30 pm yesterday while the number was 414 on Sunday, according to the official figure. The process of reporting back to the headquarters will continue until completion of the formalities for waiting BDR men, an army officer said. The BDR men were allowed to enter into the boundary of the Rifles Square for primary interrogation and later were taken to another place for final quizzing, he said. After completion of such interrogation, most of the BDR men were given 15 days leave, the official said. Apart from the headquarters, 11 BDR personnel reported back in Jessore while 44 in Jaypurhat and Naogaon, 34 in Rajshahi, nine in Sylhet and two in Kishoreganj yesterday. The gathering of the BDR men at Pilkhana headquarters started on Saturday morning following an order of the home ministry that asked those BDR members who did not take leave but remained absent at their stations, to report back within 24 hours. "The government started 'Operation Rebel Hunt' from yesterday but we could not get any chance for reporting back. We do not know what is there in our fate," said Ibrahim, an anxiety-ridden employee of BDR, who came here at 6:00 am yesterday but could not get call for report till 6:00 pm. Over 1000 fourth-class BDR employees returned to the headquarters for reporting back, he said. Gofran Mollik, a BDR subedar of 24 battalion said 394 BDR men of the battalion who fled leaving their uniform were waiting for the call but none of them got the chance till 7:00 pm. On the other hand, some BDR men became sick due to delay of the proceedings. The family members, who brought their children were also the worst sufferers. Abdur Razzak, Nayek (signal) of BDR whose leg was broken while fleeing from the headquarters claimed that he was not involved in the mutiny rather he along with his some colleagues saved the life of Lt Col Abu Taslim by concealing him in the INT room. But they are yet to get chance of reporting back till 6:00 pm, he said. He said about 26 sick BDR men were waiting here for reporting back since Sunday. Nayek Shah Alam who was at full rest as a cardiac patient following the advice of doctor in the barrack was found waiting till 6:00 pm, he said. Alam was found on a narrow lane of Hazaribagh tannery at about 12 am on February 27 in an unconscious state, he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |