Former army chief Moin U Ahmed opened up about the Pilkhana murder

Many ex-army officers have spoken about the Pilkhana rebellion after the recent anti-discrimination student uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina's government. Many named the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her party leaders as the masterminds of the murders. Now the then army chief Moin U Ahmed has opened his mouth about this barbaric murder.

One of the most brutal murders in the country's history took place on February 25 and 26, 2009 at the then BDR (now BGB) headquarters in Pilkhana in the capital. A total of 74 people including 57 army officers were killed in the BDR rebellion.

What was behind the murder, various talks have come forward at different times. Moin U Ahmed, the main character of 'One-Eleven' discussed this time, gave his commentary on his own YouTube channel on Thursday. This is the first time Moin, who is staying abroad, spoke about that incident.

This former army chief said that on that day (February 25, 2009) at 7:30 in the morning, the daily work of the army headquarters started. In the morning I was preparing to go there. At that time, CGS Lt. Gen. Sinha came to me and said, “We have some mortars, which are not used by the army.” Its warehousing and maintenance is difficult for us. BDR uses these. It will benefit us if they take them. Then when I spoke to BDR DG General Shakeel he agreed to take them. I believe he knew nothing about this rebellion till then.

After that I went for another CGS meeting. The meeting started at 9 o'clock. We all got busy there. At 9:30 my Principal Secretary Colonel Feroze entered the room and told me that there was a commotion in the pilkhana. You need guidance. After some time I tried to talk to the former Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina). But their phone is busy.

Moin U Ahmed said, military intelligence then informed me about the situation. Realizing the gravity of the situation, I then ordered another brigade of the army to prepare for the operation without anyone's orders to save time. They immediately started taking action which was named 'Operation Restore Order'.

He said, DG BDRK (Shakeel) was available on the phone at 9:47. He told me, 'During the Durbar, two armed soldiers entered and one stood behind me. Then the sound of gunshots came from outside. Immediately the soldiers inside left the court hall. It all seems to be planned and going according to plan. I have sent sector commanders and battalion commanders to bring them back. ' Then I told him about the operation.

Moin also said, I was able to contact the former prime minister on phone at 9:54. Meanwhile, he got a lot of information about the BDR rebellion. When I told him about the operation, he wanted to know how long it would take to build this brigade? I asked for his permission to send the brigade to Pilkhana on time and he gave permission. In this case, although it took a long time, 46 Brigade started its journey within an hour.

Meanwhile, the rebels deployed rocket launchers, mortars and other weapons to repel the attack in front of the BDR gates. As the first vehicle of 46 Brigade approached the main gate at 11:00 a.m., insurgents fired rockets at a pickup. The driver died on the spot. According to Lt. Col. Shams, many officers including DG, DDG, Colonel Anis, Colonel Kaiser were shot dead between 10:30 and 11:00. Our team arrives after 11 am.

The former army chief said that Captain Shafiq reached Pilkhana with 355 RAB members under his leadership before 10 o'clock. At that time, he asked his superior officer for permission to enter the Pilkhana, but he did not get it. Had he been allowed, the situation might have been easier to deal with and not so much damage done.

Moin said that around 11:45 PSO AFD said that the government is trying to solve this problem politically. The rebels have demanded that the army must withdraw from the area before any talks are held. If there is no agreement with them then military operations will be conducted. At 12 o'clock he called me and asked me to meet the former prime minister at Yamuna urgently. Around 1 pm former Defense Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Whip Mirza Azam went to Pilkhana for discussion.

He also said that the Chief of the Air Force and Navy arrived there an hour after I went to Yamuna. That is, they have been asked to call after me. After a long time when they reached there we were informed that former Defense Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Whip Mirza Azam were coming to Yamuna with a group of rebels and they (rebels) demanded amnesty. Former Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) said, “If the rebels have something to say, we should tell them.” Then I told him, 'Many have been killed. None of their demands will be accepted. You tell them first, officer killings have to stop right now. Second, all those detained must be released immediately. Thirdly, rebels with arms must surrender and fourthly, amnesty is out of the question. '

Moin U Ahmed said, when I ordered an investigation into the BDR rebellion, I was told; What do we need when the government is investigating this matter? We did not get the help we needed from the government to conduct this investigation.

The former army chief said that the army's inquiry committee was headed by Lt. Gen. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (current home adviser). He could not do his job properly, because many were in jail, many could not be questioned. (Jahangir Alam) came to me and mentioned his problem several times.

Moin U Ahmed said, I hope, he has now become the Home Affairs Advisor. He will be able to reconstitute this investigation committee and find out those involved. I requested him in this regard after forming the government.

In his latest video, Moin U Ahmed demanded a fair investigation into the Pilkhana murder. He also said that his book on BDR rebellion will be published soon.