Retired Brigadier General Shamsul Alam Chowdury (Shams), a former Chatra League leader and Indian RAW agent, orchestrated the BDR mutiny. Major Riaz handed over rifles to BDR soldiers a day before the mutiny.
Retired Brigadier General Shamsul Alam Chowdury (Shams) was at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the time of mutiny. He was promoted multiple times after the BDR mutiny and was sent to the USA as a diplomat, where Chowdhury is living with his family.
The BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) mutiny was orchestrated to weaken the Bangladesh Army and ensure the continuity of political power, the National Independent Inquiry Commission, formed by the interim government, said on Sunday.
The commission also said it found involvement of several leaders of the ousted Bangladesh Awami League government, including Sheikh Hasina, as well as indications of India’s connection to the incident.
The findings were presented at a press conference on the 7th floor of the new BRiCM (Bangladesh Reference Institute for Chemical Measurements) building at the Science Laboratory in the capital on Sunday evening.
Commission chair Major General (retd.) ALM Fazlur Rahman briefed the media.
Earlier in the day, the Commission submitted its report to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the state guesthouse Jamuna.
During the press conference, the commission chair named several Awami League leaders who were alleged to be linked to the incident.
They include the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former Dhaka South City Corporation mayor and fugitive Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Awami League leaders Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mirza Azam, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Sahara Khatun.
The commission head also mentioned the names of several former military officers who were allegedly involved. They include Sheikh Hasina’s former security adviser Major General (retd.) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former army chief General Moeen U Ahmed, and former DGFI director general General Akbar (Molla Fazle Akbar).
On 25 and 26 February 2009, as many as 57 army officers were killed in an attack by mutinous soldiers of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) at its headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka.
The country witnessed one of the deadliest massacres in its history just two months after the Bangladesh Awami League took office in early 2009.
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