Mutiny in Bangladesh Rifles

Officers of the force held hostage by soldiers over pay dispute; Hasina grants amnesty.

Bangladesh border guards today staged a dramatic armed mutiny over a pay dispute, opening fire on superior officers at their headquarters here leaving three people dead and over 21 wounded in the first major challenge to the Sheikh Hasina government.

The mutinous guards late in the night agreed to surrender after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina granted them general amnesty and assured to consider their demands for more pay, additional subsidised food and extra holidays sympathateically.

Unconfirmed reports spoke of a higher death toll. Angry over their superiors not taking up their grievances with the prime minister, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) soldiers revolted during a ‘Darbar’ or meeting with senior officers, holding some of them, including the paramilitary force’s chief major general Shakil Ahmed, hostage.

Gunfire shots were heard through the day from inside the BDR headquarters and barracks housing 20,000 paramilitary troops in Pilkhana area in the heart of Dhaka despite the general amnesty announced after her talks with a 14-member delegation of the rebels.

Hasina also asked them to immediately go back to barracks laying down their weapons. “We have promised to lay down weapons ... (as) she assured us of solving our problems in phases,” BDR delegation spokesman Tauhid said after talks with Hasina.