BDR Carnage Case
I had no info
Col Shamsul Alam Chowdhury, who was appointed chief security officer responsible for the prime minister's security on her arrival at Pilkhana to attend the BDR Darbar in February 2009, yesterday told a court that he had had no information about the mutiny.
Col Shamsul, then commanding officer of 44 Rifles Battalion, is now being cross-examined as the fourth prosecution witness to the BDR carnage at the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court.
"I did not get any information of the mutiny before it broke out on February 25," he said after defence counsel Shamim Sardar questioned him whether he had received any prior information about the mutiny as the chief security officer of the prime minister.
He also told the court that he was given charge of chief security officer on February 22, 2009.
The prime minister attended a function on February 24 and was supposed to attend the Darbar on February 25, but the programme was later cancelled.
According to the charge sheet of the carnage case, jawans of the then BDR, now Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), prior to the mutiny distributed leaflets and held secret meetings among themselves inside and outside Pilkhana a couple of days before the Darbar to finalise their plans about the mutiny.
The bloody mutiny claimed the lives of 57 senior and mid-ranking army officers who had been posted at BDR. Among those killed was BDR director general Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed. Seventeen others died as well when the mutiny broke out.
Five defence counsels cross-examined the witness on behalf of seven accused during proceedings of the makeshift court at Bakshibazar from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm yesterday with two short intervals in between.
During the cross-examination, the defence counsels questioned Shamsul on the breaking out of the mutiny, BDR's Dal-Bhat programme and his statements that were published in the media after the mutiny.
The court then adjourned the proceedings till October 26. Cross-examination of the witness will continue when the court resumes on the day.
Another defence lawyer told the court that the BDR authorities kept an hourly monitoring report on BDR members and if the report was checked many officers might turn into the accused in the case.
As the lawyer asked the witness whether an hourly monitoring was done on the members of the BDR, he replied that he had no idea.
Earlier on October 12, the court recorded the deposition of Col Shamsul when he said two processions entered the Pilkhana headquarters of the BDR and soon marched out with many rebel jawans on the second day of the mutiny. He also gave a vivid description of how the mutiny broke out and how he survived the carnage.
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