Five BDR personnel arrested at the Hazaribagh sweepers’ colony in Dhaka are presented before the journalists at the RAB-1 office in Dhaka on Tuesday. From left…Sepoy Zakir, Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Rahim, DAD Towhid, Havilder Azad and Nayek Firoz.Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday in a news conference claimed that it arrested five BDR mutineers, including two of the suspected leaders, and exhibited them to the media.
At a media briefing in the Rab headquarters last evening, Col Reza-nur Rahman, additional director general of Rab, said they arrested Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) of BDR Syed Towhidul Alam and four others in the afternoon from a house in Hazaribagh of the capital.
But, Rab's claim gave rise to a confusion, as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday informed the parliament that Towhid had already been arrested.
Meanwhile, police kept 18 other BDR personnel confined in Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital.
Neither police nor Rab however were willing to declare them as arrestees.
Hailing from Raipura village under Nolchhiti upazila of Jhalokathi district, DAD Towhid led the 14-member mutineers' negotiating team to the Prime Minister's residence Jamuna.
According to Rab, the four other arrestees are DAD Mohammad Abdur Rahim of Nabinagar upazila in Brhmman Baria, Habilder Azad Ali of Domar upazila in Nilphamari district, Nayek Mohammad Firoj Ahmed of Barisal, and Jawan Mohammad Zakir Hossain of Nandail upazila in Mymensingh.
During the briefing, Nayek Firoj shouted out, "Sir, I was not arrested, I surrendered," prompting Rab officials to declare the briefing over, right away.
Of the five arrested BDR personnel, the names of DADs Towhid and Rahim are mentioned as principal accused in the case filed by Lalbagh Police Station Officer-in-charge Nobojyoti Khisa in connection with the mutiny.
The case accuses over 1,000 BDR soldiers, specially mentioning the names of five junior commissioned (JCO) officers and a sepoy, including the names of Towhid and Abdur Rahim.
The three other named JCOs are DADs Abdul Jalil, Nasiruddin Khan, and Mirza Habibur Rahman, while the specially mentioned accused sepoy is Jawan Selim.
At the end of yesterday's media briefing, Commander SMAK Azad, director of the legal and media wing of Rab, said the arrested five will be handed over to Lalbagh police, and later they will be forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
CID is the main investigator of the case, and Rab, Bangladesh Army and other government agencies are assisting it, Commander Azad said.
Meanwhile, no one is being allowed to see the 18 BDR personnel including suspected leader DAD Abdul Jalil, confined in Holy Family Hospital in total isolation in one room.
Talking to The Daily Star on February 25, Jalil said he was one of the members of the 14-member mutineers' negotiation team.
Jalil was taken to Holly Family Hospital on February 25 night by rescuers of the Red Crescent Society.
He said he had no bullet wound, but was severely sick.
Abdul Kahar Akond, senior assistant superintended of police (ASP) of CID, who is leading the police investigation, told The Daily Star, "We are still collecting evidence from the crime scene."
Asked about the arrest of the 18 BDR personnel in the hospital, he declined to make any comment.
Replying to another question, ASP Akond said all three probe committees are exchanging information.
Meanwhile, Rab-4 recovered seventy rounds of live bullets from Gonoktuli Sweepers' Colony in Hazaribagh yesterday.
At a media briefing in the Rab headquarters last evening, Col Reza-nur Rahman, additional director general of Rab, said they arrested Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) of BDR Syed Towhidul Alam and four others in the afternoon from a house in Hazaribagh of the capital.
But, Rab's claim gave rise to a confusion, as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday informed the parliament that Towhid had already been arrested.
Meanwhile, police kept 18 other BDR personnel confined in Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital.
Neither police nor Rab however were willing to declare them as arrestees.
Hailing from Raipura village under Nolchhiti upazila of Jhalokathi district, DAD Towhid led the 14-member mutineers' negotiating team to the Prime Minister's residence Jamuna.
According to Rab, the four other arrestees are DAD Mohammad Abdur Rahim of Nabinagar upazila in Brhmman Baria, Habilder Azad Ali of Domar upazila in Nilphamari district, Nayek Mohammad Firoj Ahmed of Barisal, and Jawan Mohammad Zakir Hossain of Nandail upazila in Mymensingh.
During the briefing, Nayek Firoj shouted out, "Sir, I was not arrested, I surrendered," prompting Rab officials to declare the briefing over, right away.
Of the five arrested BDR personnel, the names of DADs Towhid and Rahim are mentioned as principal accused in the case filed by Lalbagh Police Station Officer-in-charge Nobojyoti Khisa in connection with the mutiny.
The case accuses over 1,000 BDR soldiers, specially mentioning the names of five junior commissioned (JCO) officers and a sepoy, including the names of Towhid and Abdur Rahim.
The three other named JCOs are DADs Abdul Jalil, Nasiruddin Khan, and Mirza Habibur Rahman, while the specially mentioned accused sepoy is Jawan Selim.
At the end of yesterday's media briefing, Commander SMAK Azad, director of the legal and media wing of Rab, said the arrested five will be handed over to Lalbagh police, and later they will be forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
CID is the main investigator of the case, and Rab, Bangladesh Army and other government agencies are assisting it, Commander Azad said.
Meanwhile, no one is being allowed to see the 18 BDR personnel including suspected leader DAD Abdul Jalil, confined in Holy Family Hospital in total isolation in one room.
Talking to The Daily Star on February 25, Jalil said he was one of the members of the 14-member mutineers' negotiation team.
Jalil was taken to Holly Family Hospital on February 25 night by rescuers of the Red Crescent Society.
He said he had no bullet wound, but was severely sick.
Abdul Kahar Akond, senior assistant superintended of police (ASP) of CID, who is leading the police investigation, told The Daily Star, "We are still collecting evidence from the crime scene."
Asked about the arrest of the 18 BDR personnel in the hospital, he declined to make any comment.
Replying to another question, ASP Akond said all three probe committees are exchanging information.
Meanwhile, Rab-4 recovered seventy rounds of live bullets from Gonoktuli Sweepers' Colony in Hazaribagh yesterday.
The army headquarters on Tuesday assured concerned people that no innocent person would be harassed during Operation Rebel Hunt, launched to identify and nab the rebels involved in the February 25 and 26 massacre in the Bangladesh Rifles’ headquarters.
‘The name of the operation itself is self-explanatory. The operation is being conducted only to identify and catch the BDR rebels,’ said Brigadier General Ziaul Hasan, the director of Military Operations, at a press conference in the army headquarters on Tuesday.
He said no innocent person would be harassed during the operation. ‘There is no such intention,’ said Ziaul, adding that the army would cross-check information before making any arrest.
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