BDR massacre convict bailed

A man sentenced to three years’ imprisonment over the BDR mutiny massacre has been granted a year’s bail by the High Court.

Sarwar Hossain, a former Ansar member, was on bail before a judicial court pronounced the verdict last year. He was sent to jail after the sentencing.

It is the first time a convict in the 2009 massacre has been given bail, his lawyer has said.

File Photo

Justices Reza-ul-Haq and Govind Chandra Thakur accepted his appeal against the sentencing, granting him bail on Wednesday.

“A mobile phone belonging to murdered officer Major Saleh Ansar Sarwar was found in his possession. There was proof that his brother-in-law, BDR trooper Touhid, had given it to him,” his lawyer Md Shamim Sardar told bdnews24.com.

He said Sarwar had been given a three-year jail term simply for having that mobile, though he was not present at Peelkhana during the massacre. Trooper Touhid, on the other hand, had been let off.

Seventy-four people including 57 army officers were killed in the Feb 25-26 mutiny at the BDR headquarters.

A special court of Dhaka’s Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman sentenced to death 152 Jawans and non-commissioned officers, including Deputy Assistant Director Touhidur Alam, on Nov 5.

Sarwar Hossain was arrested after the verdict. The case has a record number of accused, the highest ever in a single case in Bangladesh.