page_title: Bangladesh Rifles revolt
section_title: First day
hierarchical_section_title: Bangladesh Rifles revolt / First day
caption_attribution_description: An array of Army tanks waiting beside Abahani ground on 26 February 2009.
context_page_description: The Bangladesh Rifles revolt was a mutiny staged on 25 and 26 February 2009 in Dhaka by a section of the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary force mainly tasked with guarding the borders of Bangladesh. The rebelling BDR soldiers took over the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana, killing the BDR Director-General Shakil Ahmed along with 56 other army officers and 17 civilians. They also fired on civilians, held many of their officers and their families hostage, vandalised property and looted valuables. By the second day, unrest had spread to 12 other towns and cities. The mutiny ended as the mutineers surrendered their arms and released the hostages after a series of discussions and negotiations with the government.
  On 5 November 2013, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court sentenced 152 people to death and 161 to life imprisonment; another 256 people received sentences between three and ten years for their involvement in the mutiny. The court also acquitted 277 people who had been charged.
context_section_description: The mutiny started on the second day of the annual "BDR Week", which was earlier inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As the session began at the "Darbar Hall" auditorium, a number of jawans (privates) spoke against the higher-ranked army officials, while BDR Director General Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed was making a speech. They demanded the removal of army officials from the BDR command and equal rights for BDR soldiers. Soon they took the Director General and other senior officials as hostages inside the auditorium and later fired on them. They also prepared heavy weaponry at the main entrance gates of the headquarters. The Bangladesh Army moved in and took up strong positions surrounding BDR headquarters.
  The Director General of the BDR, Shakil Ahmed, was killed early during the first day of the revolt, along with dozens of other BDR senior commanders of the BDR, when rebels attacked the residences of the officers and killed Ahmed. They also raided Ahmed's house and looted valuables. Additionally, at least six civilians, including a boy, were killed in the crossfire.
  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 25 February offered a general amnesty for the rebels except for those involved in the murdering of army officers, looting and other crimes against the state.
  The mutineers had produced a 22-point demand, including the withdrawal of seconded regular army officers from the BDR. Instead, they wanted original BDR members to be promoted from the ranks. They demanded that their officials be selected on the basis of the Bangladesh Civil Service examination. While speaking to private television networks, BDR jawans alleged that senior officials of BDR were involved in a conspiracy, accusing the army officers of embezzling soldiers' wage bonuses from the Operation Dal-Bhaat Program and from extra duties in the general elections held on 29 December 2008. Operation Dal-Bhaat was a welfare program run by the BDR to provide rice and other daily essentials to the poor. Other demands included 100% rationing, introduction of BDR soldiers in peacekeeping missions and the overall welfare of BDR members.
caption: An array of tanks waiting beside Abahani ground on 26 February 2009
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