Staff Reporter :
Home Affairs Adviser to the interim government, Lieutenant General (retd) M Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, announced on Monday that the government will soon initiate a re-investigation and fair trial into the BDR carnage.
The bloody incident, labelled as a mutiny in the then-BDR, resulted in the deaths of 74 people, including 57 Army officers, at the Pilkhana headquarters in February 2009.
“Not only as the Home Affairs Adviser but also as a former Army officer and a common citizen, I have been seeking justice for the BDR carnage.
Proper re-investigation and a fair trial process will begin shortly,” he told journalists after a meeting with Swedish Ambassador to Dhaka Reto Siegfried Renggli at his secretariat office.
Earlier, on August 17, at a press conference in the capital, the families of the victims of the 2009 Pilkhana carnage blamed former Prime Minister Hasina for the massacre under the guise of a BDR mutiny.
The families presented a series of demands, including justice, transparency, and decisive action from the interim government to address the tragedy.
They urged the government to make public all investigation reports related to the incident and establish an inquiry commission to uncover the truth behind the brutal killings.
The family members alleged that a neighbouring state was involved in the massacre.
They also refuted the narrative of a dispute over ‘Operation Dal-Bhat’ leading to the killings, stating that it was a fabricated story intended to divert attention from the actual motives behind the massacre.
Rakin Ahmed Bhuiyan, son of Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and Naznin Ahmed, both of whom were murdered during the carnage, made accusations against prominent political figures of the Awami League, including the former Prime Minister Hasina.
“Hasina, Fazle Noor Taposh, and Sheikh Selim were directly involved in the Pilkhana massacre.
Others were also involved behind the scenes. If an independent investigation commission is formed, their names will also come up,” Rakin alleged.
He further said that he was unaware of any historical precedent where a country’s Prime Minister (Hasina) conspired with a foreign nation to orchestrate the killing of 57 Army officers in the capital.
Advocate Saquib Rahman, son of slain Col. Quadrat Elahi Rahman Shafique, said two investigative committees were formed at that time.
Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, who is currently serving as the Home Affairs Adviser to the interim government, headed one of the probe committees.
Saquib said that the report that was released to the media had been revised three times before its publication. He called for the release of the entire report.
The killings at the Pilkhana headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on February 25-26, 2009, which resulted in the deaths of 74 people, including 57 Army officials, left the nation in shock.
The families of the victims requested that everyone refer to the event not as the ‘BDR Mutiny’ but as the ‘BDR Massacre.’
Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the present government is farm to establish people’s rights, good governance, and justice.
He said that in the meeting they discussed prevention of human trafficking, agriculture rehabilitation and insurance, reorganisation and reformation of police forces, money laundering, and checking of corruption between the two countries.
Seeking Switzerland assistance in agriculture rehabilitation, Lt Gen M Jahangir Alam said post-flood agriculture rehabilitation is now a topmost challenge and priority of the interim government of Bangladesh.
Pointing over the government’s steps on checking corruption and money laundering, Jahangir Alam said the incumbent government is now in a strict stance for checking money laundering and corruption in the country.