Milestone incident: Army rejects allegations of hiding bodies

Staff Reporter :

Army rejected the allegations that army personnel beat up teachers or attempted to hide bodies of the victims during the rescue operation at Milestone School and College following the July 21 fighter jet crash, said Brig Gen Nazim-ud-Daula, Director of Military Operations Directorate (MOD).

He told this to the reporters at a press briefing at the Army Headquarters on Thursday.
“Some say we beat up teachers, or hid bodies. Why would we hide the bodies of innocent children? Their parents were there. Wouldn’t they have asked where their children were?” he told reporters during a briefing at Dhaka Cantonment.

He said if anyone was pushed amid the chaos, it was never deliberate.
“We had to clear the way for ambulances. In doing so, some jostling may have happened, but our only objective was to save lives,” he said. Brig Gen Nazim pointed out that the crashed aircraft had created a deep hole in the school building and jet fuel had leaked into the area.

“There was already fuel at the spot where the nose of the plane had hit. If a spark had gone off, those involved in the rescue could have died. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. But those who rushed there did so with full awareness of the risk,” he said.

He said army personnel were the first to respond and begin rescue operations, as their camp was located just 150 to 200 yards away from the school.
“Our soldiers dropped everything and ran. You’ll see in the footage how they carried children out, used cloth to cover them, and did everything they could,” said the MOD director.

Nazim said, “We don’t do this for the cameras. We don’t seek credit. We simply do our duty. Today you see us speaking, but we won’t always be here to explain. Please judge us by our actions.”

At one point during the rescue, 29 army members were injured, and three are still undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital.

Meanwhile, marking the Gopalganj clash, Colonel Md Shafiqul Islam of the Military Operations Directorate, told the media that no lethal weapons were used during the recent clashes in Gopalganj.

Speaking at a briefing, he told reporters, “Not only bricks and stones were hurled in Gopalganj, but cocktails were also thrown. When there was a threat to life, our law enforcement agencies were compelled to use force.”

When asked about the army’s position regarding the Home Adviser’s clear statement that ‘the army was forced to open fire in Gopalganj,’ Colonel Shafiqul said a probe committee has been formed to uncover the truth about what actually happened in Gopalganj.

“We hope the investigation will reveal the true and accurate account of the incident”, he said.