After nearly 16 years, a total of 168 former personnel of the now-defunct Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) were released from prison on Thursday on bail in a case related to the 2009 mutiny, confirmed Additional Inspector General of Prisons, Colonel Mohammad Mustafa Kamal.

The ex-BDR members were freed from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj and Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur. Meanwhile, ten others who have also been granted bail are yet to be released.

On Tuesday, Judge Md Ibrahim Mia of the Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribunal-2 granted bails to a total of 178 individuals in an explosive case filed over the controversial mutiny. A murder case was also filed over the mutiny.

The February 2009 mutiny left 74 people, including 57 army officers, dead at the headquarters of Bangladesh border security agency in the capital. The incident drew widespread speculation that the then Awami League government engineered the killings, with backing from some rogue army officers and Indian government agents. However, relevant remours and claims by the victims' families remained largely hushed due to fears of being caught in state surveillance.

The India-backed Awami League fascist regime fell in August last year, and an interim government was formed, raising hopes of justice among the victims' families and those falsely accused.

BDST: 1409 HRS, JAN 23, 2025
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