The misguided jawans of erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) wanted to destabilise the country by killing army officials during the 2009 BDR mutiny, the High Court has said in its observation in the case’s appeal verdict.
Reading out his observation on Sunday, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique said that the Pilkhana massacre was an unprecedented incident in the history of the world where 74 people including 57 army officers deputed in the BDR were killed within 30 hours.
On the other hand, Pakistani army and its collaborators had managed to kill only 55 army officers during the ninth-month-long War of Independence in 1971, he said.
The judge is one of the three members of the High Court bench which is likely to deliver the verdict and announce the sentences in the case on Monday.
The reading out of the verdict started on Sunday morning and around 4pm the court adjourned, setting Monday to resume the delivery.
Justice Siddique also observed that this many army officers were never killed even during civil wars in other countries. At the time, he mentioned that only 17 army officers were killed during the Rwanda and Kongo civil war and six died in a revolt in the Philippines, added that the grisliness of Pilkhana massacre in Dhaka was far worse.
The BDR men created a disgusting chapter in the history of cruel and barbarous murders, he said.
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The presiding judge of the bench, Justice Md Shawkat Hossain in his observation said the Pilkhana carnage had created a horrific and alarming situation in the country. “That was actually a mass killing.”
Terming the case a historic one, he said that the president had solved and made decisions regarding some legal ambiguity raised during the trial. The Appellate Division also decided on some legal matters.
“We have heard the case in this court on 370 days. Not only the 850 accused in the case are waiting for the judgment but also the countrymen are waiting. So, we have the responsibility. This is a big judgment. So you have to be a little patient,” said Justice Hossain.
“Our blood pressures have shot up while announcing this verdict,” he added.
Justice Hossain also said that the three members of the bench may come up with different views in their separate observations, but the judgment and convictions would be unanimous.
The court observed that the case was a unique criminal case in view of the seriousness of the incident, cruelty, animosity, disillusionment, conspiracy of destroying the state's destitution and social security.
Justice Siddique, in his observation, also said that the BDR leadership was in the hands of the army as a traditional semi-military force for more than 218 years. As a result, gradual distance between BDR jawans and army officers grew over various issues.
He added that the mentality of finding the authority of the army officers unacceptable was silently active among the BDR personnel and some of them had confused and persuaded most of the general soldiers and new recruits.
The High Court started holding hearings on the death references and appeals of 152 convicts in January 2015. In April this year, the court had kept the verdict as Curia Advisari Vult (CAV) after concluding the hearings.
On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced 150 personnel of the BDR and two civilians to death, jailed 161 for life for their involvement in the carnage that killed 74 people, including 57 army officers.
The trial court also handed down rigorous imprisonment to 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers.
The paramilitary force was later renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Thursday, June 04, 2026
