Yet another member of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) died in mysterious circumstances at the city's Pilkhana headquarters yesterday. The man was identified as lance nayek Mobarak Hossain. He fled the HQ shortly before the 33-hour mutiny ended on February 26, and later reported back to barracks. With his death, the number of border troops who have died since March 9 stands at four. Of them, three died at Pilkhana and one in Joypurhat. Besides, BDR central mosque's pesh imam (someone who leads prayers), who reportedly witnessed the start of the bloodbath, died during the same period. In all cases, the authorities concerned have cited heart attack or suicide as causes of death.
| All of them at about 4 a.m. ... |
Before coming to Dhaka on February 18 to join the BDR week, he was stationed at Rifle Security Unit in 29 Battalion of Chittagong. He held ID No.48235.
Requesting anonymity, his cousin yesterday afternoon told reporters, "My brother died an agonising death after torture."
Earlier, sources at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) morgue said the lance nayek's wrists, arms, knees and shoulders were swollen and badly bruised. Two police constables rushed him to DMC Hospital at around 10:40am. Doctors on duty there announced he had already died.
Mahbub, one of the constables, said they don't know anything. All they did was shift him from the Pilkhana hospital.
Contacted, BDR Director General (DG) Brig Gen Md Mainul Islam said, "Perhaps, he [Mobarak] died of a heart attack. I'm not sure though about the cause of his death. That will be known after post-mortem."
Asked about the injury marks, he said, "You know how soldiers suffered injuries while fleeing the headquarters. The marks on his body might have resulted from those wounds."
The deaths at regular intervals bring into question the soundness of the measures taken to protect suspected mutineers, most of who are considered vital witnesses to the vicious killings of 74 people including 55 army officers.