A special court of Border Guard Bangladesh on Thursday sentenced 73 BGB soldiers to various terms of rigorous imprisonment ranging from four months to seven years for their involvement in the 2009 mutiny in Ramgarh and Khagrachari sector headquarters.
The Special Court-15 presided over by BGB Khagrachari sector commander colonel Abu Wahab Mohammad Hafizul Haque also fined each of the convicts Tk 100.
With this, 1,444 border guards have been sentenced to jail since the first verdict in one of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny cases was pronounced on February 3, 2010.
The court acquitted 22 of the accused as the charges brought against them had not been proven beyond doubt.
The three-member court set up at Khagrachari BGB sector headquarters started delivering the verdict in the case of mutiny at 11 Border Guard battalion of Ramgarh at about 10:00am and ended at around 10:40am.
All the 69 accused soldiers of the battalion were produced before the
court when the judgement was pronounced.
Nine of the accused were acquitted as the charges brought against them had not been proven.
Of the convicts, 11 were sentenced to seven years in prison, two to five years, two to four and a half years, six to four years, eight to three and a half years, nine to three years, one to two and a half years, four to two years, two to one and a half years, two to one year, eight to six months, and five to four months in jail.
The accused were charged with rebelling on February 26, 2009 following the Pilkhana BDR mutiny.
In a separate judgment, the court sentenced 29 out of 42 soldiers of BGB Khagrachhari sector headquarters unit accused of mutiny to different terms of rigorous imprisonment.
The court acquitted the remaining 13 accused.
Four of the accused were sentenced to five years in prison, one to four years, four to three years, one to two and a half years, two to one and a half years, three to one year, 12 to six months, and two to four months in prison.
The two other members of the court were lieutenant colonel Syaed Sayedis Sakline and major AZM Golam Mustafa Al Mamun. Deputy attorney general Farhad Ahmad assisted the court as representative of the attorney general.
A total of 57 cases, including 11 filed in Dhaka, were filed in connection with mutiny at all but nine units of the erstwhile BDR.
The first trial of BDR mutineers began in Rangamati on November 24, 2009 under the Bangladesh Rifles Order 1972. After carrying out investigations, the authorities accused 6,052 BDR soldiers, including 4,098 of Dhaka, of taking part in the mutinies.
The specials courts in their verdicts so far have acquitted 51 of the accused.
Read the original story on the daily New Age
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