A Dhaka court has granted bail to 40 more individuals convicted by a lower court under the Explosive Substances Act over the brutal 2009 BDR carnage at the Pilkhana headquarters in the capital.
Judge Md Ibrahim Miah of Dhaka Special Tribunal 2 held a hearing of the case on Thursday, examining Major (Retd) Zayedi as a witness.
"The court later that day held a hearing on the bail pleas of the 40 convicts and passed the order in this connection," Public Prosecutor Borhan Uddin told BSS.
The convicts who were granted bail include Rezaul Karim, Shajahan, Rafikul Islam, Saiful Islam, Rezaul, Md Shamim, Wali Ullah, Habibur Rahman, Torikul Islam, Boni Amin Chowdhury, Md A Barik, Imtiyaj Ahmed Nabin, Moazzem Hossain, Mizanur Rahman, Siddiqur Zaman Joarder, Md A Monaf, Akidul Islam, Khalilur Rahman, Md Salauddin, Sohrab Hossain, Kamal Hossain, Md Ishak, Darul Islam, Sumon Chakrabarti, Abu Sayeed, Sezan Mahmud, Md Selim, Bidhan Kumar Saha, Masum Hasan, Feroz Miah, Tapas Kumar Biswas, Rafikul Islam, Kamal Miah, Enamul Haque, Robiul Alam, and Al Amin.
Earlier, on January 19, another special court had granted bail to 178 former BDR personnel who were acquitted by the trial court.
A total of 74 people, including 57 top and mid-ranking army officers, were killed in the 2009 BDR carnage.
Two cases were filed over the incident: one for murder and another under the Explosive Substances Act.
On November 5, 2013, the Third Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court sentenced 152 individuals to death and 160 others to life imprisonment in the murder case. Another 256 accused received varying jail terms.
The High Court, on November 27, 2017, upheld the death penalty for 139 BDR soldiers, delivering its verdict on the death reference and appeal hearing of the convicts, who had earlier been tried by the lower court concerned.
