(NSI News Source Info) Dhaka - March 5, 2009: The US Federal Bureau of 
Investigation has "agreed to help" Bangladesh in carrying out forensic investigations into the Bangladesh Rifles troopers’ mutiny, a media report said.
Investigation has "agreed to help" Bangladesh in carrying out forensic investigations into the Bangladesh Rifles troopers’ mutiny, a media report said. Acting deputy state department spokesman Gordon Duguid told a press briefing in Washington that he believed that the FBI would agree to help Bangladesh in investigating the BDR revolt, the Daily Star reported on Wednesday.
Mr Duguid said that they have received a request from Bangladesh for FBI help in forensic investigation into the mutiny. "I believe the FBI has agreed to do that," the report quoted Mr Duguid as saying. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina had sought help from the FBI to look into the uprising.
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Bangladesh To Rename BDR
To wash away the stigma of Bangladesh Rifles mutiny, Bangladesh will rename and reorganise its paramilitary force. The mutiny by the rifles killed most of its officers.
Director of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) Ashish Kumar Mitra (2nd R) inspects a Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) guard of honour at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka October 25, 2007. Five-day long bilateral talks between India and Bangladesh began on Thursday on border issues.
“The government in principle has decided to rename Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) as soon as possible,” Army’s Chief of General Staff of Army Sinha Ibne Jamali told reporters on Monday, Mar 2 night at the army headquarters.
The Bangladesh Rifles was earlier know as Eastern Rifles. It is a 215-year old force set up during the British rule to guard the countries eastern frontiers. Decision is yet to be taken on what would be the new name.
Former President and army chief General HM Erashad earlier demanded the dismantling of the BDR in line with military practices of abolishing units after mutinies.However, the country’s top brass want to continue with the force with the strength of over 40,000, but with a new name and a fresh orientation.
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Police Arrest ‘Ringleader’ Of Bangladesh Mutiny
Bangladeshi police said they arrested the suspected ringleader of a deadly insurrection by border guards, an attack the prime minister cited as proof of ‘a conspiracy” against her fledgling government.
The army meanwhile continued to search for more than 1,000 border guards who fled after last week’s mutiny at their headquarters in Dhaka in which the guards ambushed their commanding officers, leaving at least 69 people dead.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who came to power two months ago, has suggested the border guards had outside help in plotting their uprising, although she has not specified from whom. She told supporters Tuesday night that the attack proved there was ‘a conspiracy” against her.
‘We must remain alert so no one can take away the rights of the people,” Hasina said.
Parallel military and civilian investigations were launched Tuesday to determine the details of and reasons for the two-day mutiny that began Feb. 25.
The alleged ringleader, Syed Tauhidul Alam, was arrested in a Dhaka slum Tuesday along with four other border guards, all of whom have been charged with murder and arson, according to A.K. Azad, a spokesman for the elite police unit that carried out the raid. 
Two soldiers (2nd L and 3rd R) of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), who were held as hostages by mutinous soldiers, walk with locals after they were released by their captors from the BDR headquarters in Dhaka February 26, 2009. Mutinous members of the Bangladesh paramilitary unit have completed laying down their weapons at their headquarters in the capital Dhaka after an uprising that began on Wednesday, a government official said on Thursday.
Police paraded the suspects before reporters Tuesday night but the guards were not allowed to speak. Television footage showed them, dressed in sarongs and dirty shirts, slumped and limping before the cameras. Alam wore a signboard around his neck with his name spelled out.
There was confusion over when and how Alam was arrested. Hasina said Sunday that Alam had surrendered and was in custody. Police insisted he was arrested Tuesday; Hasina’s office declined to comment.
One of the suspects, Naik Firoz Ahmed, shouted, ‘Sir, I have surrendered,” before a police official silenced him, according to the United News of Bangladesh agency.
The guards say they revolted over long-standing demands for parity in pay and other perks enjoyed by army officers, who command the border forces.
During the mutiny, Alam emerged as the lead negotiator with Hasina’s office, winning an offer of amnesty in exchange for surrendering. Hasina later rescinded the offer for those directly responsible for the killings, which included Alam, police said.
At least 54 army officers and wives were among the 69 people killed, and six army officers were still missing, authorities said.
The insurrection and its aftermath have created a rift between the impoverished country’s civilian and military leadership.
The powerful military, which has backed 21 coups in the country’s 38-year history and relinquished power to an elected government only two months ago, is furious over how Hasina handled the crisis, maintaining she should have ordered an immediate army assault to end the mutiny instead of negotiating and offering amnesty.
Military investigators interrogated hundreds of border guards and searched ransacked offices and bloodstained sewers at the guards’ compound on Tuesday, according to a panel member who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Military leaders also forced the government to appoint more senior army officials to the parallel civilian probe, another concession won from Hasina’s rattled government. The government said senior army officials occupied five of the civilian investigation panel’s 11 seats.
Hasina and the military share a long, bitter history. A 1975 military rebellion killed her father, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of their family.
Political analysts said the mutiny threatened to damage relations further and shifted the balance of power toward the military.
Two soldiers (2nd L and 3rd R) of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), who were held as hostages by mutinous soldiers, walk with locals after they were released by their captors from the BDR headquarters in Dhaka February 26, 2009. Mutinous members of the Bangladesh paramilitary unit have completed laying down their weapons at their headquarters in the capital Dhaka after an uprising that began on Wednesday, a government official said on Thursday.
Police paraded the suspects before reporters Tuesday night but the guards were not allowed to speak. Television footage showed them, dressed in sarongs and dirty shirts, slumped and limping before the cameras. Alam wore a signboard around his neck with his name spelled out.
There was confusion over when and how Alam was arrested. Hasina said Sunday that Alam had surrendered and was in custody. Police insisted he was arrested Tuesday; Hasina’s office declined to comment.
One of the suspects, Naik Firoz Ahmed, shouted, ‘Sir, I have surrendered,” before a police official silenced him, according to the United News of Bangladesh agency.
The guards say they revolted over long-standing demands for parity in pay and other perks enjoyed by army officers, who command the border forces.
During the mutiny, Alam emerged as the lead negotiator with Hasina’s office, winning an offer of amnesty in exchange for surrendering. Hasina later rescinded the offer for those directly responsible for the killings, which included Alam, police said.
At least 54 army officers and wives were among the 69 people killed, and six army officers were still missing, authorities said.
The insurrection and its aftermath have created a rift between the impoverished country’s civilian and military leadership.
The powerful military, which has backed 21 coups in the country’s 38-year history and relinquished power to an elected government only two months ago, is furious over how Hasina handled the crisis, maintaining she should have ordered an immediate army assault to end the mutiny instead of negotiating and offering amnesty.
Military investigators interrogated hundreds of border guards and searched ransacked offices and bloodstained sewers at the guards’ compound on Tuesday, according to a panel member who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Military leaders also forced the government to appoint more senior army officials to the parallel civilian probe, another concession won from Hasina’s rattled government. The government said senior army officials occupied five of the civilian investigation panel’s 11 seats.
Hasina and the military share a long, bitter history. A 1975 military rebellion killed her father, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of their family.
Political analysts said the mutiny threatened to damage relations further and shifted the balance of power toward the military.
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