Testimony of 303 witnesses recorded in Pilkhana case

 
The testimony of 303 witnesses has been completed in the explosives case filed over the 2009 Bangladesh Rifles Mutiny, which left 74 people dead, including 57 army officers.

On Thursday, CID Inspector Abu Bakkar Siddique testified before the Dhaka Special Tribunal-1, presided over by acting judge Md. Mominul Islam, at a temporary courtroom inside Keraniganj Central Jail in Old Dhaka. Defence lawyers later cross-examined the witness. The court fixed April 2 for the next hearing.

Chief Public Prosecutor Md. Borhan Uddin said that of the 1,345 listed witnesses, 303 have so far testified. The case has 822 accused, 328 are on bail and 427 are in custody, while some remain absconding and others have died. Although 149 bail petitions were scheduled for hearing on Thursday, they were not taken up.

According to the prosecution, the witness testified about the seizure of explosive materials from near the armory warehouse in Pilkhana.

Two cases, one for murder and another under the Explosives Act, were initially filed with Chawkbazar Police Station and later transferred to New Market Police Station. 

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted charge sheets in July 2010. While the murder case concluded with verdicts in the lower court in 2013 and disposal of death references and appeals by the High Court in 2017, proceedings in the explosives case are still ongoing.