By Xinhua,
Dhaka : A team of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would arrive here Sunday to help the country investigate the Feb 25 border guards mutiny, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said.
After attending a programme in a hotel here, the foreign minister told reporters that the FBI team would arrive in Dhaka later Sunday. She, however, didn’t disclose any more details.
Earlier, private news agency UNB quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the FBI agents would talk to the authorities concerned and make initial assessment.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought forensic assistance from the FBI March 1.
More than 1,000 members of the paramilitary border force, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), staged a mutiny against their commanding officers deputed from the army at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka Feb 25.
Seventy people, mostly army officers, were killed during the mutiny that ended Feb 26 with the surrender of mutinous BDR members following negotiations between the government and the mutineers.
The Bangladeshi government and the army constituted two separate inquiry committees to investigate the mutiny. The government also sought assistance from Britain’s Scotland Yard in investigating the incident.
The police sued over 1,000 BDR members, on charges including treason, killing army officers, arson and looting, among others.
Dozens of suspected mutineers, including alleged mutiny leader Touhidul Alam, a deputy assistant director of BDR, have been arrested under an “Operation Rebel Hunt” mission across the country.