Seventeen years ago, a brutal and gruesome massacre took place at the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka. Two separate lawsuits were filed in connection with the incident.

In the murder case, both the trial court and the High Court have delivered their verdicts. The case is now awaiting hearing in the Appellate Division for final disposal.

Meanwhile, in the case filed under the explosives act, the trial court is still recording statements of the witnessess.

In the horrific incidents, which took place at the then BDR (now Border Guard Bangladesh – BGB) headquarters at Pilkhana in Dhaka on 25 February 2009, as many as 57 army officers, including the then BDR director general Major General Shakil Ahmed, were killed.

In total, 74 people lost their lives that day. Family members of the military personnel present at Pilkhana also suffered extreme violence.

Two separate cases were filed on 28 February 2009 under the murder and explosives acts. In the murder case, 850 people were accused, making it the largest case in the history of Bangladesh’s judiciary in terms of the number of defendants.

The trial court delivered its verdict on 5 November 2013, sentencing 152 people to death, 160 to life imprisonment, and 256 to various jail terms. Some 278 were acquitted, and four accused had died before the verdict.

Murder case moves to appeal stage

In criminal cases, if a trial court hands down a death sentence, it requires the High Court’s approval, known as the death reference case.

After hearings on the death reference and appeals in the Pilkhana murder case, a special High Court bench of three judges delivered its verdict on 26 and 27 November 2017.

The full High Court judgment was published in January 2020, upholding the death sentences for 139 accused, sentencing 185 to life imprisonment, and handing various terms to 228 others. Some 283 were acquitted. A total of 61 accused died so far, including the 15 accused, who passed away before the pronouncement of the High Court verdict.