BDR Carnage
Lance nayek Ekram vowed to kill army officers, Maj Ishtiaq tells court
Hurling abusive words at slain BDR chief, Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed, on loudspeaker, lance nayek Ekram had declared that the DG (director general) had been killed, and now every army officer would face the same fate.
Maj Ishtiaq Ahmed, who witnessed the incident during the Pilkhana carnage on February 25, 2009, said this in a Dhaka court yesterday. The witness said the soldiers held him hostage and attempted to kill him several times.
As soon as the mutiny broke out, Ishtiaq took shelter at the house of sepoy Uzzal. He stayed there for about 20 hours along with five other armed soldiers of record wing.
On the night of February 25, he saw his runner sepoy Rahim on television, laying down his weapons.
Speoy Rahim called Maj Ishtiaq's wife over phone several times on that night and asked her furiously and indecently for his location.
The next day, some BDR soldiers caught him as he left the house. They took him to quarter guard. At that time, some soldiers beat him up and took away his belongings.
He was freed from captivity at about 4:30pm on February 26.
A metropolitan sessions judge's court, set up at the playground of Alia Madrasa of the city's Bakshibazar to try the accused in the carnage case, recorded Ishtiaq's deposition yesterday.
Another army officer, Maj Ismot Ara, who worked as gynecologist at BDR hospital during the mutiny, told the court that she fled the hospital, wearing a veil.
She said subedar Torab Ali, nayek Wazed, sepoy Matin, and nayeb subedar Fazlul Karim, under the command of subedar Monoranjan, buried the bodies of the slain army officers beside the mortuary.
Sepoy Kamruzzaman and cook Abdul Kuddus also gave depositions before the court.
The defence counsel later cross-examined them. The court was adjourned till February 29.
A total of 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed by the mutinous soldiers of defunct BDR (now Border Guard Bangladesh) on February 15-16, 2009.
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