Feni BDR verdict due today

A special court in Feni is scheduled to give its verdict on 62 BDR men charged with mutiny.

They have been charged with rebelling in support of their comrades in Pilkhana, Dhaka where the rebellion of Feb 25-26, 2009 saw about 70 people dead, including 57 army officers deputed to the BDR.

Lt Col Gazi Salauddin, commanding officer of the battalion, told a press conference on Saturday accused riflesmen of 19 Rifles Battalion could be given a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison if the charges were proven.

Maj Gen Mainul Islam, BDR director general and head of the panel judges, is scheduled to give the verdict at 11am.

This will be the third verdict on BDR mutiny cases.

Earlier, on April 7, a special court in Panchagar sentenced all accused for different terms and the second verdict came on April 11 in Thakurgaon.

It is alleged that a contingent of Feni border guards took up arms, fired in public and blocked the Feni-Maizdi Road on Feb 26.

Previously, 58 accused pleaded guilty to acts of mutiny in Feni and sought pardon from the trial court.

The remaining four border guards have retracted their earlier confessions.

Daganbhuiyan police filed a case last year accusing the border guards in Feni of armed mutiny in support of the Pilkhana mutiny.

All 62 accused are being detained in Feni jail.

Six special courts, including two in Dhaka, are trying some 3,500 border guards accused in some 40 cases around the country.