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Published : 13 May 2026, 02:31 PM
The man who filed a petition in court for a case over the plane crash at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara is a member of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), an armed ethnic insurgent group, the Ex-Forces Association has claimed.
The comment was made on Wednesday at a press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity by the President of the Ex-Forces Association lieutenant (Retd) Saifullah Khan Saif. The organisation, formed by former sick and retired members of the Armed Forces, arranged the press conference to present its position on “protecting the dignity, morale, and national interests of the Armed Forces.”
In a written statement at the press conference, the association said:
“It has been observed with deep concern that recently a vested group has been deliberately trying to question the Armed Forces of Bangladesh, damage their professional image, and weaken the morale of their members.
At a time when Bangladesh is moving forward to strengthen its national interests, sovereignty, and a ‘Bangladesh First’-based foreign policy, and initiatives are being taken to build the Armed Forces into a modern, capable, and time-appropriate force, misleading information, propaganda, and motivated campaigns are being spread continuously.”
“In particular, ever since the modernisation activities of the Bangladesh Air Force, the purchase of fighter planes, and efforts to acquire new technology-based defence capabilities came to the forefront, a certain group has become active in trying to create controversy around the force. The filing of a case application against the respected Air Force chief, attempts to link the Air Force with sensitive issues such as extremism, and spreading baseless and misleading information on various online platforms to create suspicion among the public are extremely unfortunate and undesirable.”
Last Thursday, Usaimong Marma, father of deceased student Ukya Chhaing Marma, filed an application in court seeking a case against 16 people, including former interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, alleging negligence in the plane crash at Milestone School and College.
The application named several senior officials as suspects, including the secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, Air Vice Marshal Morshed Mohammad Khair Ul Afsar, and Group Captain Rifat Akhtar Jiku. The court rejected the application on the same day.
Meanwhile, after the case application, a post circulated on social media claiming that the petitioner has been compelled to hide. It was also claimed that police conducted a raid at his home in Rangamati. However, these claims could not be independently verified.
At Wednesday’s press conference, when asked about the case application, lieutenant Saifullah responded with a counter-question:
“How many months later did he go to file the case? Do you know who attempted to file that case?”
When informed that the person who filed the case was the father of a student killed in the fighter plane crash at Milestone School, Saifullah said:
“Yes, his name is Usaimong Marma. We would request you to look into who this Usaimong Marma is. Find out where he lives, what his background is. A few days ago, the wife of Santu Larma made numerous false statements about the Armed Forces at a program in Canada. She said all kinds of false and misleading things about what our Armed Forces are allegedly doing in the hills. These are all Kuki-Chin people. He is part of that group... I’m only giving you this clue.”
The Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) has been described as a separatist group in the Chattagram Hill Tracts. Several officers of the Armed Forces have reportedly lost their lives during operations against them.
Saifullah also said that attempts to link the Air Force with “extremism” are part of a conspiracy.
When asked how he evaluated recent media reports claiming that several Air Force members had been placed under surveillance on suspicion of links to extremism, Saifullah said:
“Information and news regarding the armed forces are provided by ISPR. Since no statement has come from them on this matter, it can be assumed to be a rumour.”
At the press conference, protests were also made against what were described as false reports in “bogus media outlets” targeting the recently appointed state minister for defence. The government was urged to take action against the spread of such false information.
