Probe Body Summons Hasina, 17 Others Over BDR Carnage

The National Independent Investigation Commission probing the 2009 BDR carnage has issued a fresh public notice, calling on 18 individuals—including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—to testify as part of its ongoing inquiry into the deadly mutiny at the Pilkhana headquarters.

Among those summoned are key political figures, former military and law enforcement officials, and journalists. The list includes former security affairs adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, and former lawmakers Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mirza Azam, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, AHM Golam Reza, Waresat Hussain Belal, and Anisul Islam Mahmud.

Others called to testify include Nurul Islam BSc, former RAB Director General Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, former Additional IGP Monirul Islam, ex-ward commissioner Suraiya Begum, and journalists Munni Saha, JI Mamun, Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, and Liton alias Leather Lition, son of Torab Ali.

The commission has urged all public and private TV channels and online media outlets to display the notice as a scrawl continuously for seven days. The public notice has also been uploaded to the commission’s official website: www.bdr-commission.org.

This is the second such call from the commission. On March 8, it had issued an earlier notice requesting 15 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina, to appear before the panel in connection with the February 25–26, 2009 massacre, in which 74 people—including 57 army officers—were brutally killed during a mutiny by members of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

That list also included former army chiefs General Moeen U Ahmed and General Aziz Ahmed, Brig Gen (retd) Muhammad Shamsul Alam, former DGFI chief Lt Gen (retd) Molla Fazle Akbar, former police officials Abdul Kahar Akand and Nur Mohammad, and former IGP Monirul Islam.

The commission, in its earlier March 8 notice, had asked the witnesses to inform the body of their preferred schedule for testimony within seven days via phone, email, or letter. It also offered the option of virtual hearings via video conferencing.

The commission had expressed its intent to complete the process of hearing testimonies from those 15 individuals by March 31, citing time constraints.

The ongoing investigation aims to uncover fresh insights into the motives, negligence, and decision-making failures surrounding one of the deadliest military uprisings in Bangladesh’s history.