By IANS,
Dhaka : A team from Britain’s Scotland Yard will arrive here Wednesday to help probe the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny amid indications that the carnage that left 74 people dead could have been “pre-planned”.
The Scotland Yard team would have four members, said Britain’s Minister for International Development Mike Foster here Tuesday.
The investigation into the mutiny by BDR troopers Feb 25-26 has shown that the killings could have been “planned” and around 450 border guards were involved in the massacre.
“Some outsiders” had knowledge of the rebellion, a senior official said.
“We have found involvement of around 450 BDR officials and jawans in the mutiny after scrutinising video footages and photographs,” The Daily Star Tuesday quoted an investigator as saying.
The official said they were trying to get details about the missing mutineers by interrogating those who have been arrested.
The border guards revolted Feb 25-26 over low wages and poor working conditions.
“We have identified 10 to 12 BDR members who led several groups of mutineers during the 33-hour mutiny,” said the official.
Another investigator said: “(The mutiny) was done in a planned way. When one group attacked and killed BDR Director General Maj Gen Shakil Ahmed at the Darbar Hall, another group attacked his residence.”
After killing army officers at the BDR headquarters, the rebels dumped the bodies in the sewer and mass graves in such a way that the rescuers found it difficult to trace the bodies, the report said.
Investigators said they were finding it hard to identify the BDR personnel who were on duty at the gates and at the five armouries inside because the duty rosters had been destroyed.
“This suggests that it was a pre-planned act and we are trying to find the mastermind,” said one officer.