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Tanks enter Bangladesh Rifles headquarters, search on for missing

by Sanjay Jha | February 27, 2009 at 12:54 am

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Bangladeshi Army tanks rolled into the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters, where mutinous troopers who had battled the army for 33-hours had been holed up, in the capital city Friday morning as search operations for missing officers began.

Earlier in the morning, police resumed search for alive or the deceased inside the BDR headquarters after the end of a 33-hour bloody revolt by the BDR troops.

Armed Police Battalion took over the charge of the fallen headquarters after rebel BDR soldiers surrendered their arms at the call of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday afternoon.

Even though peace has been restored after two tense days the fate of missing army officer is unknown. Over 130 army officers taken hostage by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) soldiers at its Headquarters here remained missing today as the bloody mutiny by border guards ended leaving more than 100 dead, including its chief.

The death toll could not be officially confirmed but security sources have told to news agencies that they feared the figure to be over 100 as some 130 army officers remained missing with overnight frantic search for bodies at the mutiny-ravaged BDR headquarters in Pilkhana area.

The 33-hour mutiny by disgruntled border guards ended yesterday in their surrender at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of tough action to take them off a "suicidal route".

In the build-up to the surrender, tensions simmered as army commandos rolled into the residential neighbourhood of Dhanmondi with tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) in a show of force.

At least 21 people--nine senior army officers of BDR, seven BDR soldiers, four civilians and one BDR personnel of unknown rank--were retrieved dead in the two-day rebellion, according to the latest count by The Daily Star.

The bodies of eight army officers were found in a sewage-filled canal off the Pilkhana BDR headquarters.

Army personnel, Rab officers and police combined forces in an overnight search for the renegade soldiers who had fled the site of mutiny yesterday, before the dusk set in.

The bodies of six BDR jawans were found at Pilkhana and sent off to Mitford Hospital, hours past midnight.