Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus in a statement yesterday demanded prompt trial of the savage killers and revelation of facts of the outrageous carnage that took place at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters.

"The perpetrators of the heinous crime must be brought to justice swiftly, and the design behind it must be revealed in full. We should all

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help in the process,” the statement read.

"I strongly feel that as a nation we must go through a thorough cleansing process to wash out the last element of violence in us--in our thinking, in our words and in our deeds,” he said in the statement.

The statement accentuated that above all, people must stand united to overcome the crisis and to defeat evil forces, which seek to divide and destroy the nation.

In the statement ProfYunus expressed tremendous shock and surprise over the vicious BDR outburst on February 25.

"I cannot accept that this kind of thing can happen in our own country and can be carried out by our own people. Are they part of us? Or they are some freaks among us?" the statement read.

"I find no words to express my anguish at the cruel murder of so many of the nation's valiant sons and daughters who have been leading our armed forces and serving the nation and the common people so dedicatedly. I join with the nation in offering my condolences to their near ones at this moment of their unbearable loss. But the loss is not theirs alone," the statement said.