TDS Des

The government has backtracked from its earlier decision to form a committee to investigate the real culprits and masterminds behind the 2009 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) massacre.

On Sunday, the home ministry informed the High Court that it would not proceed with the formation of the committee now, citing the ongoing criminal cases related to the massacre.

Deputy Attorney General Tanim Khan submitted a letter from the home ministry to the High Court bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Debasish Roy Chowdhury during the hearing of a writ petition.

The bench fixed January 5 for passing an order on this issue.

Earlier, on 2 December, the attorney general’s office informed the High Court bench that the government had initiated the process of forming a national independent committee to identify the real culprits and masterminds behind the BDR massacre on 25-26 February 2009.

The High Court bench directed the government to complete the process and submit a compliance report by Sunday (15 December).

Notably, 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed during the rebellion at the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana on 25 and 26 February 2009.