Govt appeals challenging acquittal of 69 accused

The government filed an appeal on Wednesday with the High Court (HC) challenging the acquittal of 69 accused in the country's largest-ever case of killing at the Pilkhana headquarters of now-defunct Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in February, 2009, reports UNB.
Deputy Attorney General Farhad Ahmed, on behalf of the state, submitted the appeal to the bench concerned of the HC.
An HC bench comprising Justice Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Thakur will pass the order after hearing the appeal on Sunday.
Farhad Ahmed said the government filed the appeal against the acquittal of 69 accused, out of total 271 acquitted accused, in the case as it found that 2-4 witnesses made their depositions against them during the BDR trial.
On November 5, 2013, a special court sentenced 152 people to death and 423 others to different jail terms and acquitted 271 others in the BDR killing case.
Among the convicts, 161 people, including BNP leader Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali, were sentenced to life term imprisonment while 262 others to different jail terms starting from three months.
A total of 73 people, including 57 senior army officers, were killed during the bloody mutiny at Pilkhana in the capital on February 25-26 in 2009.