‘Who’re masterminds behind Pilkhana carnage,’ relatives of martyred ask
PBC News: Relatives of the much-talked about Pilkhana carnage victims want to know who were behind the brutal killings of their near and dear ones.
The carnage in the name of mutiny continued for 33 hours starting in the morning on this day 13 years ago, which left 74 people including 57 courageous and brilliant army officer dead inside the Pilkhana headquarters of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), which was later renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
The brutal incident of killings happened on this day 13 years ago [February 25-26, 2009]. Some 139 people were sentenced to death, 185 life-term sentences and 200 others were given different jail terms in the killing case. Besides, 277 accused were acquitted. It was the country’s largest-ever killing case. Though 13 years have passed, relatives of the martyred army officers couldn’t forget the incident.
They said the Pilkhana carnage was not merely an incident of mutiny. Rather, it was a pre-planned incident of target killings.
They also called to find who were involved in the brutal killings.
Advocate Sakib Rahman, son of martyred Colonle Qudrat-e-Elahi, said the trial of the case is going on like other criminal cases. It is a major criminal case in the world involving so many people. So, it would take time to complete the trial of the case.
“Those who were involved in the Pilkhana carnage couldn’t be identified. In order to unveil the mystery shrouding the carnage, we feel it is absolutely necessary to form a Supreme Judicial Inquiry Commission. The commission will identify the real culprits investiagting the incident impartially,” he said.
He further said the Army and civil administration conducted two separate investigations into the incident. But, the investigation reports were not published. The investigation reports should be published.
Hosne Ara Parveen, elder sister of slain Major Mostofa Asaduzzaman, said, “We couldn’t know anything about the masterminds of Pilkhana carnage though 13 years have passed after the killings. What we want is the trial of the killers of our near and dear ones.”
Meanwhile, Major General S M Salahuddin Islam, Military Secretary to the President, and Major General Nakib Ahmed, Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, placed floral wreaths at the graves of the slain Army officers at the Military Graveyard in the capital’s Banani area on behalf of the President and the PM.
Besides, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, chiefs of the three services–Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Shaikh Abdul Hannan, and Director General of BGB Major General Md Shafeenul Islam also paid tributes to the slain army officers.
They stood in solemn silence for a while.
