Twenty-seven more former members of the then Bangladesh Rifles were released on Thursday from Kashimpur jails in Gazipur, three days after they were granted bail in a case under the Explosive Substances Act linked to the ‘BDR mutiny’ at Pilkhana in Dhaka in 2009.
They were released from Kashimpur High Security Central Jail, Kashimpur Central Jail-1, and Kashimpur Central Jail-2. A special court in Dhaka granted bail to 40 ex-BDR members in the case on May 12.
Earlier, 178 individuals who had been acquitted in the murder case related to the carnage were granted bail in the case under the Explosive Substances Act.
As a result, the number of individuals granted bail in the case has risen to 218.
Kashimpur Central Jail-1 superintendent Mohammad AL Mamun said that the bail order reached the jail gate on Wednesday.
‘They were released Thursday morning after scrutinising the documents,’ he added.
The mutiny in February 25–26, 2009, lasted 30 hours and resulted in the deaths of 74 people, including 57 army officers posted to the then Bangladesh Rifles.
After the mutiny, the Bangladesh Rifles was renamed the Border Guard Bangladesh.
On November 5, 2013, the trial court sentenced 568 soldiers in the murder case.
Of them, 152 were awarded death penalty, 162 were handed life imprisonment, and 256 were sentenced to varying jail terms.
Of the total 850 accused in the case, 278, mostly former BDR personnel, were acquitted.
In a two-day judgment delivered in November 26–27, 2017, the High Court upheld the death sentences of 139 soldiers and handed life imprisonment to 185 others.
