The National Independent Investigation Commission for the 2009 Pilkhana carnage has summoned 15 individuals, including deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to testify as part of its ongoing inquiry.

Also called to testify are former army chiefs Moeen U Ahmed and Aziz Ahmed, along with Hasina and former Inspector General of Police Noor Mohammad, according to a "special notice" issued on Saturday.

The commission stated in the notice, posted on its website, that recording the testimony of these individuals has become "indispensable" for the investigation into the Pilkhana carnage.

The notice specified two ways to testify – directly to the commission's office; or through video conference.

Besides Hasina, her former security advisor Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Fazle Noor Taposh, former MPs Jahangir Kabir Nanok, Mirza Azam, and AFM Bahauddin Nasim were also summoned to testify.

The commission also asked the then commander of the 44 Rifle Battalion Muhammad Shamsul Alam and former DGFI director general Mollah Fazle Akbar to depose before it.

The other witnesses are former additional inspector general of police Monirul Islam, former director general of Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB, Hasan Mahmud Khondoker, and former police officer Abdul Kahar Akand.

Hasina fled to India on Aug 5, 2024, in the wake of a student-led mass movement. She has been there ever since.

Awami League leaders, including the former prime minister's advisors and ministers, named as witnesses did not make public appearances after the government's fall. Some of them have reportedly gone abroad.

The Independent Investigation Commission, formed on December 24, 2024, to reinvestigate the 2009 killings at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Headquarters in Dhaka's Pilkhana, has made significant progress.

Two weeks after taking office, ALM Fazlur Rahman, who served as the chief of the border force from February 29, 2000, to July 11, 2001, suggested at an event on January 7 that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should be either brought back for questioning or interrogated in India.

He stated, "We will resolve the country's internal issues within two months, leaving one month as buffer. We especially suspect that Sheikh Hasina is in India. We will try to have her extradited through the foreign ministry or directly contact the High Commissioner of India, or our team will go there to interview her."

The commission's notice, which summoned 15 individuals to testify, aims to complete the testimony process by March 31. It has urged witnesses to propose a suitable schedule within the next seven days.

Those summoned have been instructed to contact the panel via email ([email protected]) or by phone (01714026808).

The Pilkhana mutiny, which resulted in the deaths of 74 individuals, including 57 army officers, has been the subject of calls for reinvestigation, especially after the interim government's assumption of power.

The commission, which has a 90-day deadline to submit its findings, was established to uncover the truth behind the tragic incident.