Retired army officers to keep track of Sinha murder case

An expert committee formed by retired defence officers will voluntarily monitor investigation and trial in the killing of Major (retd) Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan in the Teknaf police firing.

The committee will offer assistance to concerned officials, if needed, to ensure justice for the victim's family, said Lieutenant General (retd) Md Mainul Islam, who is the head of the committee.

"Law has many loopholes. Anyone can get away with crime using them; we saw this before," he told The Business Standard on Monday. 

"So we will monitor every step of the case voluntarily. If the lawyer of the case needs any assistance, we will stand beside him."

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Retired Armed Forces Officers Welfare Association (Raowa) formed the committee – judicial investigation monitoring cell – over Sinha murder case which triggered a countrywide outrage.

Mainul, who is the head of the committee, said that they will form a full committee after a meeting.

"And retired judges, practising lawyers of the Supreme Court, retired police officers having expertise in this type of case will be included in the committee."

A retired senior army officer told The Business Standard that the killing of Maj (retd) Sinha was a concern not only for the victim's family but for all the retired army personnel. 

"As they continuously ask us about every update of the case, we decided to form two different committees over the incident: judicial investigation monitoring cell, media monitoring cell. They will keep track of all the procedures and steps of the case," he added. 

Air Commodore (retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury has been made the head of the media monitoring cell.

Retired police officials with knowledge of jurisprudence and media representatives will also be the members of this committee, Ishfaq Ilahi said. 

"We will monitor the media reports on Sinha murder incident. And if there is any mistake or misrepresentation of any information, we will address that," he added. 

"We will also collect information from published news regarding Sinha murder case."

Mainul said that his committee will make some observations, recommendations for reforms in  police force at the thana-upazila level.

"It is the most sensitive case for the country. Inspector of another force – Bangladesh Police – shot a retired major of the Bangladesh Army dead. So we will keep track of the latest developments till the end of the trial of the case," he added.

Mainul, head of the judicial investigation monitoring cell, is the former principal staff officer of Armed Forces Division and chief of general staff of the Bangladesh Army. 

He is currently president of the Bangladesh Archery Federation.

He served as the director general of the then newly formed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) from February 28, 2009 to May 9, 2010, and was given the responsibility of reorganising the mutiny-devastated force. 

Mainul had replaced Major General Shakil Ahmed who was killed in the revolt of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops that began on February 25, 2009.

He re-established the chain of command in the force and initiated the trial of the mutiny in a very short time, while overseeing the transition of the border security force from BDR to BGB.