Assassination of Ziaur Rahman

Ziaur Rahman, the sixth president of Bangladesh, was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong by a group of army officers. He had traveled to the port city to mediate a dispute between local leaders of his political party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and was staying at the government-owned Chittagong Circuit House when the attack occurred.

According to accounts drawn from journalist Anthony Mascarenhas's book *Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood*, the plot was set in motion by Lt. Colonel Matiur Rahman, who reportedly held Zia and the army leadership responsible for political and economic problems in the country. Plans accelerated after Matiur learned, via a fellow officer serving as Zia's personal staff officer, that Zia intended to transfer Major General Abul Manzur out of Chittagong and that Zia himself planned to visit the city on 29 May.

In the early hours of 30 May, conspirators organized into three groups; two were assigned to attack the Circuit House while a third was to intercept anyone attempting to flee. Sixteen officers took part, armed with submachine guns, rocket launchers, and grenade-firing rifles; enlisted soldiers reportedly refused to participate. At around 4 a.m., rockets were fired into the building, guards were killed, and officers searched the building room by room. Zia was located, and Lt. Colonel Matiur Rahman shot him at close range with a submachine gun, continuing to fire after Zia fell. The attack on the Circuit House lasted under 20 minutes.

In the aftermath, Major General Abul Manzur broadcast statements from Chittagong Radio announcing a revolutionary council and dismissing the sitting army chief, but Hussain Muhammad Ershad, Chief of Army Staff, remained loyal to the government, which ordered troops to suppress the uprising. Matiur Rahman and another officer were shot dead while attempting to flee. General Manzur had surrendered peacefully and was killed within hours while still in army custody; the government stated he was killed by an "enraged mob," though an autopsy reportedly showed a gunshot wound to the back of the head. He was never tried, and the allegation that he had conspired in Zia's assassination was never established in any court.

A military court martial, chaired by Major General Abdur Rahman, began at Chittagong Central Jail on 10 July 1981 and concluded on 28 July 1981. Eighteen officers were tried; thirteen were sentenced to death and five received prison terms. Twelve were executed following the trial, and a thirteenth officer was executed roughly two years later after recovering from wounds sustained during the assassination. Additional officers were expelled from the army, and at least two named suspects were reported to have remained fugitives, with one reported to have died in 1993.

Following Zia's death, Vice President Abdus Sattar became Acting President and was later elected in a December 1981 vote before being removed in a bloodless coup led by Ershad in March 1982.