Killer of Gen Shakil, 2 others identified
Investigators so far find 650 involved in BDR carnage
Shariful Islam
At least three of the detained BDR men were among the mutineers who gunned down their DG Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and some other senior army officers at the Pilkhana Headquarters.
The three have been identified by suspected mutineers now being grilled at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell.
The BDR men claimed a group of six to seven who first opened fire at the Darbar Hall were riflemen, not outsiders.
"None has so far revealed the names of the initial shooters during interrogation, though it seems they know them," said a top law enforcer tasked with investigation into the carnage.
He however hopes they will get important breakthrough once the shooters are identified and quizzed.
"We've identified the killer of BDR DG Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed and at least two others who gunned down other senior officers," said the investigator speaking anonymously.
He however did not reveal the names of the three now in custody.
They have earlier arrested the BDR jawan who killed the wife of Maj General Shakil, he added.
The investigator also said they have so far detected around 650 riflemen who had involvement in the mutiny.
Those mutineers have been detected through examination of video footage, interrogation of arrested jawans and from the statements of the survived officers and family members.
The investigator also said over 150 out of the 650 BDR members were directly involved in serious offences like killing, looting arms, ammunition and explosives from armouries, distributing those to other soldiers, and guarding entrances to the BDR HQ.
He said a good number of the suspected mutineers and serious offenders have already been arrested, while the rest are still on the run.
The BDR authorities say they have yet to figure out how many BDR members are still at large.
Director General Brig Gen Mainul Islam told The Daily Star:
"We could not collect information about all the BDR members from all the sectors, battalions and companies. Therefore we have yet to ascertain how many BDR members are still at large."
12 ARRESTED
The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday arrested 12 fugitive BDR personnel in different parts of the country and turned them in to Lalbagh police.
Rab officials said primary interrogation suggests their involvement in killing, repression and looting.
The arrestees are subedar Shafiz Uddin, nayek subedars Helal Uddin and Shahjahan Ali, havildar Billal Hossain Khan, nayek Matiur Rahman Khan, lance nayek Shahidul Islam, sepoys Abdul Matin, Abdullah Al Mamun, Shahiduzzaman, Altaf Hossain, carpenter Narayan Kumar Das and electrician Zakir Hossain.
3 ON FRESH REMAND, 9 SENT TO JAIL
A Dhaka court yesterday placed three mutiny suspects on a five-day fresh remand and sent nine others to Dhaka Central Jail, reports our Court Correspondent.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the case, produced 12 suspected mutineers before the court on completion of their five-day remand and prayed for further remand for subedar Gofran Malik, lance nayek Gausul Alam and sepoy Abdul Latif.
The CID prayed for seven-day remand for each of them, but the court granted five days for each.
The court also ordered to send havildar Rezaul Karim, lance nayek Yusuf Ali, sepoys Jayanta Kumar Sardar, Jamir Ali, Sohrab Hossain, Ismail Hossain, Shariful Islam, Rafiqul Islam and Masudur Rahman to jail, as the investigation officer (IO) did not seek further remand to quiz them.
The Daily Star - Details News
