‘Committee re-probing BDR killings may send team to question Hasina in India’

DHAKA: The commission re-investigating the 2009 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) massacre may send a team to India to question former PM Sheikh Hasina after consultations and if legally acceptable, according to panel chief major general (retd) ALM Fazlur Rahman. He also stressed that “it is insufficient to merely claim that the BDR killings were executed by local and foreign entities or to allege India’s involvement”.
“Such claims must be substantiated with evidence,” Rahman said at an event here on Monday, stressing that all pieces of evidence, regardless of their significance, will be carefully evaluated.
In the 2009 incident, soldiers of the BDR (now Border Guard Bangladesh) took over its headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, and killed 56 army officers and 17 civilians. “Those with suspected involvement, especially Sheikh Hasina, are now staying in India. We will try (to communicate) through the foreign affairs ministry or directly, whatever is legally acceptable,” he said. On consultations with the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, Rahman mentioned that the commission might either request Hasina’s extradition or send a team to India to question her.