Revolt in BDR over pay hike ends; 50 dead

Dhaka, Feb 26 (PTI) Mutinous Bangladesh Rifles (BDR)
soldiers surrendered Thursday night and freed all hostages
ending their two-day revolt during which they killed at least
50 army personnel and others, yielding to an ultimatum by the
government which dispatched tanks to their headquarters here.

After the mutiny over a pay rise had spread beyond Dhaka
to other cantonment areas in the country, Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina demanded that the revolting soldiers of
BDR, a paramilitary force deployed on borders with India,
should lay down their arms or face tough action.

Thereafter tanks surrounded the BDR headquarters at
Pilkhana area in the heart of Dhaka and also took positions
near the residence of the Prime Minister.

Faced with the possibility of an army operation, the
mutinous soldiers laid down their arms and released hostages
whose number was not immediately clear. Hasina has already
promised amnesty to them.

A Brigadier-rank Deputy Director General of BDR, which
has a total strength of over 40,000, was among those killed by
the rebels who also gunned down a large number of other
military officers on deputation.

Officially the death toll was put at 50 but other
reports, not confirmed by authorities, put the figure at over
100. This is said to include families of some army personnel.

In a brief televised address to the nation, Hasina told
the mutineers, "don't take the suicidal route. Don't compel me
to take tough action".

This was the first major challenge confronting Hasina
who assumed office less than two months back after a landslide
victory in the December elections that saw the end of the
two-year army-backed rule.

A dozen women inside the BDR headquarters were first set
free by the mutineers, raising hopes of the revolt being
contained.

In Dinajpur and Rangpur districts -- both sectoral
headquarters of BDR -- soldiers came out of barracks and held
demonstrations, but there was no report of violence.

Police said identities of at least two of the dead,
BDR's DDG Brigadier Abdul Bari and Operations Director Colonel
Anis, had been established.

The mutineers were demanding more pay, additional
subsidised food and holidays and blamed the army officers for
not effectively putting up their case before the government.

As fresh firing erupted during the day, army tanks were
deployed outside the BDR headquarters. Preparations were in
full gear for storming the premises when the rebels waved a
white flag indicating their readiness to surrender.

Witnesses said the army troops issued a notice asking
residents in the three-and-a-half-kilometer radius of the BDR
headquarters to evacuate their houses, offices and shops,
giving a one-hour deadline. PTI