A Special Trial Court today sentenced 152 Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guards Bangladesh) jawans to death sentence for the massacre of 73 people, including 57 army officers, in Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters at Pheelkhana in Dhaka in Feb. 2009.

The court also sentenced 158 convicts to life terms, while another 251 have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 3- 10 years, as per a report by Bangladesh National News Agency, BSS. 271 of the accused have been acquitted. A former BNP MP and an Awami League leader figure in the list of those sentenced to life term.

Delivering the verdict amidst tight security, Dhaka Metropolitan Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Akhtaruzzaman said financial motives were behind the mutiny of the jawans, elaborating that involving the Bangladesh Rifles (now Bangladesh Border Guards) in programmes like Dal-Bhaat was not a wise decision by the then caretaker government.

The mutineers were demanding the end of army control over Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed Border Guards Bangladesh. The mutiny, which started in the headquarters at Pheelkhana, had spread to other units of the force. Around 6000 Bangladesh Rifles jawans were convicted of mutiny and handed down jail terms by Bangladesh Rifles authorities in 2012.

After the mutiny, both the name and uniform of the border watchdog force was changed to Border Guards Bangladesh.