A total of 178 former Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel are being released on bail after 15 years in prison. They are gradually being freed from four different prisons on Thursday.
Among them, 43 are being released from Dhaka Central Jail, 27 from Kashimpur-1, 95 from Kashimpur-2, and 15 from Kashimpur High Security Prison.
This information was confirmed to Jago News by Md Jahangir Kabir, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Prisons.
Deputy Jailor Abu Yusuf of the Central Jail told Jago News at around 1:25 pm that the release process for 43 former BDR personnel from the Central Jail had begun. Several of them had already been released, with the others expected to follow.
Senior Jail Superintendent Mohammad Abdullah-al-Mamun of Kashimpur Central Jail-1 (Gazipur) stated that 27 BDR personnel were released from their facility around 12:30 pm.
Earlier, on January 21, Judge Md Ibrahim Mia of Dhaka Special Tribunal-2 published the names of the 178 individuals who were granted bail.
On February 25 and 26, 2009, a mutiny took place at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, resulting in the deaths of 74 people, including 57 army officers. Following the incident, two cases were filed under murder and explosives acts. The trial for the murder case concluded on November 5, 2013, with 850 individuals involved. The verdict included death sentences for 152 people, life imprisonment for 160, and various prison terms for 256 others. A total of 278 individuals were acquitted.
On November 27, 2017, the High Court delivered its verdict on the death reference and appeals related to the case. The court upheld the death sentences for 139 accused, sentenced 185 to life imprisonment, and handed down various prison terms to 228 others. A total of 283 individuals were acquitted. Before the High Court ruling, 54 accused individuals, including 15, had died. A total of 226 accused have filed appeals and leave-to-appeal petitions against the High Court’s verdict in the murder case.