Bangladesh army launches probe into mutiny

The Bangladesh army on Tuesday launched its own probe into the mutiny spearheaded by Bangladesh Rifles personnel, in which 73 of its officers were massacred.

The government may take the help of United States and British intelligence agencies in its probe. Five more rebels were taken into custody today, following the arrest of the suspected ring leader of the bloody revolt.

Army chief Lieutenant General Sinha Ibne Jamali said the military's probe into the mutiny, which erupted last Wednesday, would be independent of the investigation launched by the government.

The army probe would be headed by Quartermaster General Lieutenant General Mohammad Jahangir Alam Choudhury, he told reporters.

Jamali said the army's seven-member probe would be, if necessary, assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Scotland Yard, whose help had been sought by the government.

The investigation was launched by the army as the government reconstituted its probe into the mutiny.

The government probe, earlier headed by Home Minister Sahara Khatun, would now be led by a retired top bureaucrat and have three more members, including a senior army officer, apart from its original strength of seven.

The elite Rapid Action Battalion arrested the suspected ring leader of the mutiny along with five other accused, nearly a week after the revolt claimed 77 lives, 73 of them army officers.