HC verdict on Pilkhana carnage to be executed properly: Home minister

The High Court has delivered the verdict on the Pilkhana massacre case and it will be executed properly, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

The home minister made the remarks placing a floral wreath at the graves of the martyrs at the Banani Military Cemetery on Friday, observing the 13th anniversary of the brutal Pilkhana carnage, said a press statement.

Regarding the delay in the judicial process, he said, "The reason for the delay is that it took us a while to gather all the evidence and materials. It also took some time to gather witnesses in the explosives case. We wanted a fair and impartial trial for the case and the judges conducted the trial likewise. The case that is going on, will end very soon. There is an opportunity to appeal after the trial, which they are doing. We think that when this process is over, justice will be served."

"It has taken a long time to put the Bangabandhu murder case on trial. Nevertheless, today we can breathe a sigh of relief. We have finally been able to bring Bangabandhu's murderers to justice. We never imagined that such a brutal and heartbreaking event would happen on 25 February. Some deviant members of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) caused the massacre," the minister added.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Major General Safinul Islam was also present at the event.

He said, "The then BDR and the present BGB force are not the same at all. Following the killings in 2009, the current government has completely restructured BDR, along with renaming it Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). More than a decade has passed since the unfortunate incident and the BGB Act has been updated to prevent a recurrence of the 2009 incident. For these reasons, the BGB will now move forward for the betterment of the country. Such incidents will not happen again."