Shawdesh Desk:

A total of 178 former members of the Bangladesh Rifles were released on bail on Thursday after being granted bail in an explosive case linked to the 2009 Pilkhana mutiny.

Among those released, 43 were freed from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, 27 from Kashimpur Central Jail-1, 95 from Kashimpur Central Jail-2, and 13 from Kashimpur High Security Central Jail, according to Jahangir Kabir, deputy inspector general of prisons for Dhaka division.

Despite being acquitted by both the trial court and the High Court in a murder case tied to the mutiny, many of these soldiers had remained in custody due to their involvement in a separate explosive case related to the rebellion.

The mutiny, which unfolded on February 25–26, 2009, lasted 30 hours and resulted in the deaths of 74 people, including 57 army officers posted to the then Bangladesh Rifles.

Currently, 756 former BDR soldiers remain in custody across four jails in connection with the mutiny. Of them, 200 were granted bail on Sunday.

On January 19, Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribunal judge Md Ibrahim Mia granted bail to 178 of the 426 detained soldiers accused in the explosive case.

The trial had been stalled for 12 years and resumed recently, with retired Major Syed Md Yusuf testifying as a prosecution witness.

The next hearing in the explosive case is scheduled for February 10, while the murder case remains pending before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.