More than 200 accused granted bail in BDR mutiny case!

More than 200 accused who were acquitted in murder cases and against whom no appeal was filed have been granted bail in the explosives case filed in the BDR mutiny case. Today, Sunday, the temporary court of Dhaka Special Tribunal-1 Judge Md. Ibrahim Miah granted them bail inside the Keraniganj Central Jail.

Earlier, the court proceedings began after 11 am. Later, the accused's lawyer Mohammad Parvez applied to postpone the taking of testimony. On the other hand, the state prosecutor Md. Borhan Uddin prayed to take testimony. Later, after the arguments of both sides, eyewitness Major Syed Md. Yusuf testified in the court at 11:47 am.

On February 25 and 26, 2009, 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed in the mutiny at the Border Guard Headquarters in Peelkhana, Dhaka. Two cases were filed under the Murder and Explosives Acts in that incident. After acquittal or serving sentence in the murder case, 468 people were released due to the explosives case.

The trial of 850 people in the murder case ended on November 5, 2013. In addition to the hanging of 152 people, 160 were sentenced to life imprisonment and 256 to various terms of imprisonment. In addition, 278 people were acquitted.

On November 27, 2017, the High Court issued a death reference and appeal verdict in the case. The verdict upheld the death sentences of 139 accused, sentenced 185 to life imprisonment and 228 to various terms of imprisonment. In addition, 283 were acquitted.

However, a total of 54 accused, including 15, died before the High Court verdict. 226 accused have appealed and filed leave to appeal against the High Court verdict. The state has also filed leave to appeal against the verdict of acquitting and reducing the sentences of 83 accused. These appeals and leave to appeal are now awaiting hearing.

Meanwhile, the trial of 834 accused in the Explosives Act case began in 2010, but the explosives case was suspended midway and only the evidence in the murder case was presented, resulting in the trial of the case being stalled.

After the interim government took office, there was a demand to start a re-investigation into the BDR mutiny. On December 19, members of the martyr's family went to the International Crimes Tribunal with a complaint. On December 24, the government formed an investigation commission headed by ALM Fazlur Rahman with a deadline of 90 days.