46 B''deshi border guards jailed for 2009 bloody mutiny

Dhaka, Jan 13 (PTI) A special Bangladeshi court todayjailed 46 border guards for a maximum of seven years for theirinvolvement in the 2009 bloody mutiny that killed 74 people,including 57 army officers.

Forty-six jawans of the 29 Rifles Battalion of BorderGuard Bangladesh were sentenced to jail terms ranging fromfour months to seven years for their involvement in the mutinyin Matiranga sub-division in Chittagong''s Khagrachharidistrict that led to the killing of 57 army officers,including the then BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed.

The Special Court-15, headed by Chittagong SectorCommander Lt Col Zahedur Rahamn, fined them Tk 100 each, theStar online of the The Daily Star newspaper said today.

However, it acquitted border guard Nayak Md Hanif ascharges were not proved against him.

At least 70 people, including 57 army officialsdeputed at the BGB Headquarters at Peelkhana in the capitalwere killed in bloody BDR mutiny on February 25-26, 2009.

The BDR has been renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh(BGB) with a new combat uniform as part of a reformprocess.

Some 3,500 border guards have been facing trial in 40cases countrywide over the mutiny that spread to battalionsoutside Dhaka. Trial of crimes like murders and looting duringthe rebellion are being held under civil law, according tomedia reports.

In 2009, Bangladesh set up six "special courts" to trythe rebellious soldiers for the bloody mutiny by theparamilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

The rebellious soldiers had claimed that a sense of"deprivation" had prompted them to stage the mutiny even asthey demanded the border force should be freed from "militarydomination". PTI