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182 BDR jawans jailed for mutiny

Staff Correspondent
A Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) court yesterday sentenced 182 jawans of signal sector of erstwhile BDR to rigorous imprisonment ranging from four months to seven years and fined each of the convicts Tk 100 in a mutiny case.
The Special Court-8 tried the jawans for their involvement in the 2009 mutiny at the Pilkhana headquarters of the border force. During the mutiny on February 25-26, the BDR jawans mowed down 57 top and mid-ranking army officers along with 17 other people.
The special court also acquitted five accused, as allegations against them were not proved. Interestingly among the five acquitted, two pleaded themselves guilty earlier.
Deputy Director General of BGB Brig Gen Abu Sayeed Khan who led the court told the two acquitted,
“You pleaded yourself guilty. Since allegations against you are not proved, you are exonerated”.
Prosecutor of the case Maj Mohammad Ahsan Habib said he will give order to the jail authority to release the acquitted persons immediately and ensure their joining in the force soon.
As the president of the three-member judges' panel started announcing the verdict one after another, security personnel took the convicts out of the courtroom and picked them up at prison vans waiting outside.
Earlier, the jawans in bare foot were produced at the makeshift dock setup at the Darbar Hall in Pilkhana.
Abu Sayeed Khan started delivering the judgment around 9:55am, which continued for more than one hour. This is the fifth such verdict by special courts set up in BGB head-
quarters.
“The court is neutral. All related rules and laws were followed. The accused were given option for self-defence and to produce defence witness”, said the BGB DDG before pronouncing the verdict.
He also said they (jawans) were given summary of witnesses' depositions, and a friend of the accused was also appointed for their assistance. Besides, the accused got opportunity to appoint lawyers by themselves, he added.
“Depositions of witnesses, misleading information produced by jawans, records, documents, mobile call list, age, video footage, photograph, and accused' final statements were taken into consideration in handing over punishment”, said Sayeed Khan. “The jail term will be effective from today (yesterday).”
Of the convicts, 20 were jailed for
seven years, three for six years, 14 for five years, two for four years and six months, eight for four years, 16 for three years, 23 for two years, eight for two and six months, 33 for one year, 20 for one year and six months, 30 for six months, and five for four months.
Charges were framed against 187 jawans of the signal sector on December 5 last year and 75 witnesses gave depositions against them. The court recorded depositions of 22 defence witnesses.
The convicts were charged with leaving the Darbar Hall defying the orders of the then director general Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed, not controlling their juniors and taking effective measures to thwart the mutiny, taking part in mutiny with firearms, collecting firearms and ammunition from the armouries, and making statements before the media.