Wednesday, February 25, 2009

New twist to BDR situation

Despite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement of general amnesty, rebel BDR personnel declined to lay down their arms complying with their leaders’ commitment given to the head of government.

According to UNB the firing of some shots was heard at around 9:15pm from inside the besieged BDR Headquarters, where the paramilitary force’s lower orders staged revolt in the morning against their top bosses, officials and witnesses said.

Using microphone the mutineers were demanding the withdrawal of the army officers from commanding positions from 36 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) units all over the country. “If we lay down arms, army officers will repress us,” they said.“We want army-free BDR…We’ll provide our own security,” they spoke out through microphones, as the rebels holed up inside the sprawling premises of their headquarters.

They went on: “We are not enemies of anyone…army officers torture us.”They also alleged that the army officers do not provide them food at mess but take away Tk 4 lakh from the mess.“We’ll do whatever needed to realize our demands,” the rebels said, taking a hard stand.

Meanwhile, Red Crescent ambulances shifted 18 injured persons from inside the Headquarters. It could not be ascertained how many of them are civilians.Police said two bodies believed to be of army officers were found at Kamrangirchar adjacent to the Headquarters.

Unconfirmed sources say the casualty figure may be around 10 to 15. Official confirmation about the casualties was not available.

1 comment:

  1. Where is our smart state minister mr. shohel taj?

    ReplyDelete