13th Anniv of Pilkhana Carnage

Today, February 25 (Friday), is the 13th anniversary of the brutal carnage at the Pilkhana Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh) headquarters.

Seventy-four people, including 57 army officers, were killed at the Pilkhana headquarters of the paramilitary force on February 25-26, 2009.

The High Court has sentenced 139 people to death, 175 to life imprisonment and 200 to various terms of imprisonment in the much-discussed case (Peelkhana murder case). This is the biggest case in the history of Bangladesh. Following a lengthy trial and verdict, the High Court on January 8, 2020 released the full verdict in the Peelkhana murder case.

A group of rebel soldiers entered the court hall on February 25, 2009 at around 9:27 am during the BGB's annual court. One of them aimed a firearm at the chest of the then director general. Then came the most brutal event in history. The rebels attacked the army officers with firearms. They killed army officers and took their families hostage. A frightening situation arose in the whole Peelkhana. They took control of the four entrances and opened fire on the surrounding area.

Insurgents continued to shoot at army officials in and around the Darbar Hall. The rebellion ended 36 hours later. Peelkhana turned into a bloody desert. Later mass graves were discovered from Peelkhana. The bodies of army officers were recovered from there. The 36-hour massacre killed 57 army officers, one soldier, the wives of two army officers, 9 BGB members and 5 civilians.

Two criminal cases were filed in connection with the BDR mutiny. One was a murder case and the other was an explosives case. The trial of 850 people in the murder case ended on November 5, 2013. 152 people were hanged, 160 people were sentenced to life imprisonment and 256 people were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment. And 278 people were released. On November 27, 2017, the High Court's appeal in this case was also decided.

On the other hand, 834 people were accused in the explosives case. The trial began in 2010 with the murder case. But in the middle, the state has presented only the evidence of the murder case. Did not present evidence in the explosives case. At one stage, the state suspended the proceedings of the explosives case. That is why the trial of the case was delayed.

All those sentenced to death were members of the Bangladesh Border Security Force (BDR). Former BNP MP Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and Awami League leader Torab Ali are among those sentenced to life imprisonment. Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu died of a heart attack on 3 May 2015 at Rajshahi Jail.

The High Court upheld the death sentence of 139 of the 152 convicts sentenced to death. At the same time, the death sentence of eight was reduced to life imprisonment and four were acquitted. On the other hand, one of the accused in the case, BNP leader Nasiruddin Pintu died during the trial of the High Court.

Besides, the High Court upheld the sentences of 146 out of 160 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment. Two of the accused died and 12 others were acquitted.