Former army chief General Moeen U Ahmed has said that the army probe committee was not allowed to question Awami League leaders Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh over their alleged roles in the 2009 BDR killings.

A total of 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed during the carnage, also known as the Pilkhana massacre, at the then-BDR headquarters on February 25 and 26, 2009.

Following the killings, the armed forces formed an inquiry committee led by Lt. General (retd.) Jahangir Ul Alam Chowdhury who later served as the home affairs adviser in the interim government led by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus after Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in a popular uprising in 2024.

Moeen made the revelation in an interview published on Thursday by Shahnawaz Khan Chnadan, a member of the National Independent Investigation Commission formed by the interim government to probe the carnage.

“I was told that the prime minister (Hasina) was not happy that he (Jahangir) was trying to take their (Nanak and Taposh) statements,” Moeen said during the online interview.

The commission, led by former BDR chief Maj. Gen. (retd.) ALM Fazlur Rahman, submitted its final report in November 2025 after a year-long investigation and interviews with people involved in or familiar with the events at the time.

The report identified Taposh as the “key coordinator” of the carnage and accused Hasina and several Awami League leaders of involvement in the killings.

Moeen said Jahangir had gone to the jail gate several times to speak with arrested BDR members but was not allowed to do so.

“If he is not allowed to talk to anyone, how will he get information?” he said.

Moeen also said Jahangir’s committee had recommended a separate inquiry to investigate the killings further.

Moeen served as chief of army staff from 2005 to 2009. He relocated to the United States soon after the Hasina government came to power in 2009.