Mine blast that ripped through victory celebrations | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Mine blast that ripped through victory celebrations

Bangladesh

Asadullah Sarker, Dinajpur
16 December, 2019, 04:45 pm
Last modified: 16 December, 2019, 05:06 pm

Related News

  • 5 dead, 15 injured in Dinajpur road crash
  • Gor-e-Shaheed Boro Maath: The heart of Dinajpur
  • BSF returns nine Bangladeshis at Biral Border
  • BSF detains two Bangladeshis along Dinajpur border, locals held two Indians in retaliation
  • Bhabesh death: India's knee-jerk reaction proves wrong

Mine blast that ripped through victory celebrations

The Pakistani military had planted mines and other explosives in Dinajpur and adjacent areas before leaving Bangladesh. Many people died even after the war because of these mines

Asadullah Sarker, Dinajpur
16 December, 2019, 04:45 pm
Last modified: 16 December, 2019, 05:06 pm
Mine blast that ripped through victory celebrations

Two big trucks stopped at the gate of Maharaja Girjanath High School in Dinajpur. A group of men were busy preparing for unloading the vehicles.

The trucks were filled with mines, which the Pakistani Army had set up all over the country. Three weeks after the country had been liberated from the occupation forces, the mines were being collected from all over the country to be buried in a trench.

The war was over, the army was gone. There were celebrations of the victory. Everything looked normal.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

On January 6, 1972, a group of five freedom fighters – Mizanur Rahman Manu, who later became a whip in parliament, Asaduzzaman Kabir, Rejaul Islam Khaja, Abdur Razzak Sona and former mayor of Dinajpur municipality Shafiqul Haque Chhuttu – were hanging out at the Dinajpur Polytechnic Institute.

The evening was calm but very cold. The fog was dense but still they could see the trucks being unloaded from afar.

"Suddenly we heard an explosion some 200m away," Chhuttu recounted, adding that the sound came from the school.

"Dust and smoke filled the air. People were running," he said, reminiscing the horrific mine blast tragedy in Dinajpur just three weeks after the country's Liberation War had ended.

"Several hundred freedom fighters were residing at the transit camp in the school. They all died in the blast," Chhuttu said, adding that the blast was so strong that almost 80 percent of the school building was destroyed.

"Perhaps one of the mines slipped through someone's hands while being unloaded and triggered the series of blasts," said Chhuttu.

The Pakistani military had planted mines and other explosives in Dinajpur and adjacent areas before leaving Bangladesh. Many people died even after the war because of these mines, freedom fighter Abul Hashem told The Business Standard.

"The freedom fighters residing at the camp collected the explosives and kept those at the school."

The army had also destroyed the main power station of Dinajpur on December 16, 1971. There was a power cut in the whole area.

"The rescue operation became very difficult. We used headlights from trucks, jeeps and other vehicles for the rescue," said President of Dinajpur Sectors Commanders Forum Abul Kalam Azad.

Locals including advocate M Abdur Rahim, then west zone chairman of the Mujibnagar government, freedom fighter Mirza Anowarul Islam Tanu, Language Movement veteran Rafiq Chowdhury and farmers' leader Abdus Sattar took part in the rescue operation.

The injured were rushed to Dinajpur Sadar Hospital and Saint Vincent Hospital.

The bodies were buried in the graveyard of Chehelgazi shrine in Dinajpur town the next day.

A monument has been built on the school premises to commemorate the freedom fighters who had lost their lives in the mine blast. There is another monument on the Chehelgazi shrine premises.

Theatre personality Kazi Borhan, who is from Dinajpur and who witnessed the incident and took part in the rescue operation, said more than 800 freedom fighters were in the camp. Most of them died in the blast.

The joy of victory was shrouded with pain following this tragic explosion.

Such a large number of freedom fighters did not lose their lives at a time during the nine months of the war.

 

Top News

Birth of a Nation / Dinajpur / Mine Blast

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Burnt out cars and damaged buildings are all that’s left of this street in Ramat Gan Credit: AP
    Iran threatens to strike US, UK, and French bases if they help defend Israel
  • Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus of the Bangladesh interim government. Sketch: TBS
    UK lawyers hired to recover stolen money: CA Yunus
  • Logo of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Photo: Collected
    Joint press briefing by Yunus, Tarique a breach of political norms, Jamaat says questioning CA's partiality

MOST VIEWED

  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman and Chief Adviser  Muhammad Yunus meet at Dorchester Hotel in London, UK on 13 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    National polls possible in 2nd week of February, agree Yunus, Tarique in 'historic' London meeting
  • Rescuers work at the scene of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
    Tehran retaliates with 100 drones after Israel strikes Iran's nuclear facilities, kills military leaders
  • From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
    From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts
  • Flight AI 379 had landed. File Photo: Hindustan Times
    Day after Ahmedabad crash, Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat

Related News

  • 5 dead, 15 injured in Dinajpur road crash
  • Gor-e-Shaheed Boro Maath: The heart of Dinajpur
  • BSF returns nine Bangladeshis at Biral Border
  • BSF detains two Bangladeshis along Dinajpur border, locals held two Indians in retaliation
  • Bhabesh death: India's knee-jerk reaction proves wrong

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

1d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Iran's counterattack: US ambassador visits shelter 5 times

Iran's counterattack: US ambassador visits shelter 5 times

24m | TBS World
No trade war, this time US-China in mutual agreement

No trade war, this time US-China in mutual agreement

59m | Others
Putin engages in back-to-back calls with Iran and Israel leaders

Putin engages in back-to-back calls with Iran and Israel leaders

2h | TBS World
How mobile wallets are driving the rise of digital nano loans

How mobile wallets are driving the rise of digital nano loans

1h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net