Pilkhana carnage: Cases await final disposal

Two cases were filed in connection with the inhuman and brutal killing at the then BDR headquarters in Pilkhana -- a murder case and a case under the Explosives Substance Act -- on 28 February 2009.

As many as 850 people were accused.

The trial court and the High Court delivered the verdict of the murder case on 5 November 2013. But the case for final disposal is awaiting hearing at the Appellate Division.

On the contrary, the case filed under the Explosives Substance Act is being heard at the trial court. The state said 200 more witnesses may be produced at the trial court.

A mutiny of border security force BDR (now Border Guard Bangladesh) broke out at its headquarters in Pilkhana and different places on 25 February in 2009.

A total of 57 army officers including then director general Major General Shakil Ahmed were brutally killed in the incident. The total number of deaths were 74.

According to the verdict of the murder case, as many as 152 accused were sentenced to death, 160 were handed life sentences while 256 were sentenced to jail for different terms. Four of the accused had passed away before the verdict. Some 278 people were acquitted.

After the trial court verdict, the death reference of the accused is sent to the High Court for approval. Following hearing on the death reference and appeal, a special High Court bench comprising three judges delivered the verdict on 26 and 27 November.

The full verdict of the High Court was published in January 2020.

In the verdict, the death sentence of 139 accused was upheld, 185 were sentenced to life term imprisonment while 228 were sentenced to jail for different terms. Some 283 accused were acquitted. As many as 54 accused died.

Court sources said a total of 73 appeals and leave to appeals on behalf of 226 accused have been filed against the verdict delivered by the High Court.

On the other hand, the state has filed 20 leave to appeal in connection with 83 accused whose punishment has been reduced and who are acquitted by the High Court verdict.

These appeals and leave to appeals are awaiting for hearing at the Appellate Division.

According to lawyers, after the publication of the verdict, the state filed leave to appeal against the verdict in 2020. The accused filed appeal and leave to appeal separately in 2021 and 2022.

The state presented an appeal of the accused to the chamber court of the Appellate Division in May. In continuation of it, the matter was placed at the chamber court on 12 November. That day, the chamber court sent the issue to the regular bench of the Appellate Division. Later, the appeal of the accused was included in the cause list of the Appellate Division on 23 January.

Speaking to Prothom Alo about the case, attorney general AM Amin Uddin said a bench of the High Court comprising three judges delivered the verdict.

A bench comprising four judges of the Appellate Division will be required for appeal hearing, he said adding that the bench will be constituted soon and then hearing will begin.

The number of justices including the chief justice is 6.

Md Aminul Islam is one of the main lawyers of the accused in the case.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said it will take a long time if the hearing on the appeal in the Pilkhana case starts. As a result, the other activities at the Appellate Division may be hampered. If the new judges are recruited at the Appellate Division, the hearing on the appeal in this case may be expedited.

Aminul Islam, however, said the matter depends on the chief justice.

The case filed under the Explosive Substances Act hasn’t been completed in 14 years. Out of the 1,344 witnesses of the case, 273 have given their deposition.

The forthcoming 28 and 29 February have been fixed as the next dates for witness statements. The trial is taking place at a makeshift court at a field beside the Madrasah-e-Alia in Old Dhaka’s Bakshibazar.

A total of 834 have been accused in the case. Fifth two of them have already passed away while 19 are fugitives. The remaining accused are in prison.

One of the state counsels in the case Mosharraf Hossain Kajol told Prothom Alo that the trial is taking place four days a month.

Some 643 witnesses have given their depositions.

He is hopeful that the trial will be completed this year.

Besides the two cases, the BGB conducted its own trial, the summary trial, under its law on the mutiny in Pilkhana and other places. In that trial, 10,973 were handed sentences on different terms. Out of them, 8,759 were sacked while the rest rejoined the force after serving their administrative punishment.

The trials were held in special courts across the country. In 57 cases, 5,926 soldiers were sentenced to different terms.

After the mutiny in 2009, the BDR was restructured. The force was renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).