Dismissed BDR members, families block Shahbagh, demand Pilkhana killing reprobe

Dismissed members of the former Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), along with children of imprisoned members, blocked the Shahbagh intersection today to press a three-point demand, including a reinvestigation into the Pilkhana killing case.

Under the banner of "Justice for BDR," the protesters gathered at the Shaheed Minar around 11:30am. They began marching towards the chief adviser's official residence, Jamuna, around noon. 

By around 1pm, they reached the Shahbagh intersection, where police had set up a barricade in front of the Shahbagh police station to stop them.

Although police asked the protesters to move in front of the National Museum, they blocked the intersection and began a sit-in.

"Vehicular movement remained suspended from 1pm due to the blockade at Shahbagh," Shahbagh Assistant Commissioner of Traffic Md Shakil told TBS.

Shahbagh police station Officer-in-Charge Khalid Mansur told Prothom Alo, "The protesters blocked the road for about half an hour. They were then persuaded to move in front of the National Museum. When they cleared the road around 1:30pm, traffic returned to normal."

Participants in the protest claimed that after the Pilkhana massacre, many innocent BDR members were falsely implicated in a conspiracy related to the tragedy. Even after 15 years, they said, the state has taken no effective steps for them.

Their three-point demand includes a reinvestigation into the killings during the 2009 BDR mutiny; release of innocent imprisoned members; and compensation with reinstatement of dismissed members.

The dismissed members also alleged that during the previous government's tenure, the investigation commission faced various restrictions. They added that the current interim government has not taken any visible action in the last nine months.