Thaindian News

Dhaka, April 21 (IANS) Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers stationed at the headquarters here have been allowed to wear their uniform, two months after hundreds of them staged a mutiny in which 55 army officers were killed.
The BDR personnel at Pilkhana, the headquarters of the 67,000-strong force on the outskirts of the national capital, were barred from wearing their uniform as the government was identifying those involved in the Feb 25-26 revolt.

“The border guards have started working in uniform as per the directive of the Director General Major General Mainul Islam,” New Age newspaper quoted a BDR spokesperson as saying Monday.

A high level probe over the mutiny is still on and the mutineers are being tried by a special court.

Over 1,100 rebellious troopers have been arrested.

Soon after the carnage, several hundred BDR soldiers fled the headquarters, abandoning their uniforms and weapons drawn from the armoury without authorisation.

These were still being recovered from different places, the newspaper report said.

The government has decided to disband the force whose history goes back two centuries.

A new logo and uniform and stringent rules are part of the re-branding of the BDR that will operate under a different name.

Over 80 people, including BDR’s then director general Major General Shakil Ahmed, were gunned down during the mutiny that the government says was the handiwork of “outside elements”.