Day the nation lost its way

Kicking off even before the break of dawn, tanks and trucks carrying soldiers headed out of the cantonment and towards the city. Soon, Bangabandhu's home came under attack and as Sheikh Kamal rushed out to the courtyard to ascertain the situation, he was shot dead. In the next few minutes, the assassins went on a rampage, killing Bangabandhu and his family. 

At 7am, Major Shariful Haq Dalim, announced the overthrow of the government and the killing of Bangabandhu on the radio. Later in the day, the killers forced Chief of Army Staff Major General KM Shafiullah, Major General Ziaur Rahman, the deputy chief of army staff, and Brigadier Khaled Musharraf, the chief of general staff, to accompany them from the army headquarters to the radio station. There, the three officers were joined by Air Vice Marshal AK Khondokar and Rear Admiral MH Khan, also brought there at gunpoint.

Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed, installed as President by the killers, appeared at the radio with Taheruddin Thakur, minister of state for information. They were joined by General MAG Osmani. All three chiefs of the armed services expressed their allegiance to Mushtaq, who later spoke on radio and television and praised the assassins as 'Shurjo Shontan'.

Within hours of the carnage, members of Bangabandhu's government gathered in a cabinet meeting presided over by Mushtaq. When one of them wished to know where Bangabandhu will be buried, Mushtaq remarked, "Anywhere but Dhaka." The day after, Bangabandhu's body was taken to his village home in Tungipara to be buried.

On 26 September, the regime promulgated the infamous Indemnity Ordinance to protect the killers. On 3 November, Brigadier Khaled Musharraf  launched a counter-coup against the  Mushtaq regime and put General Ziaur Rahman on house arrest. On 7 November, Colonel Abu Taher, with loyal troops, freed Ziaur Rahman who appointed himself the chief martial law administrator.