( Ջեr বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : অষ্টম খন্ড When army units entered the towns of Comilla, Rangpur, Kushtia, Noakhali, Faridpur and Serajganj, the local magistrates and the police superintendents were shot out of hand. Civil servants on the grey list have been transferred to West Pakistan. They include Taslim Ahmed, Inspector-General of Police. When the army struck Dacca on the night of 25th March, the police revolted and fought for 18 hours. A new element in the regime of terror is the Gestapostyle pick-up. Some of those wanted for questioning are arrested openly. Others are called to the army cantonment for interrogation. Most of them do not return. Those who do are often picked up again by secret agent known as RAZAKARS, a tern used by the volunteers of the Nizam of Hyder-abad who resisted the Indian takeover of the State in 1948. Razakars literally means duty to the king or State. By night and day parts of Dacca are sealed off by troops searching for Hindus, Awami Leaguers and students. Everyone must carry an identity card. Cars are stopped and searched and the entrances to the city are blocked by checkposts. If the jawan (infantryman) at the post finds anyone without an identity card and is in no mood to listen, a trip to the cantonment may follow. Dacca is frequently shaken by bomb blasts after which security is tightened and areas searched for “miscreants” the army term for members of the MUKTI FOUJ (liberation army). Whatever the army has completed, its task of clearing an area of “miscreants” it is replaced by the militia. These are tough frontier people who are considered more ruthless and less disciplined than the regular army. They are paid three rupees (about 18p) a day and are lured to East Pakistan by the promise of booty. The persecution of East Pakistan’s Hindu minority and the surviving elements of its Bengali nationalism has a quality of casual horror about it. Shanker, a college student of Jagannath College, escaped to a nearby village on 27th March. Two months later he returned alone to see what remained of his home at Thatari Bazar. Two non-Bengalis spotted him, shouted “Hindu”, “Hindu” and chase developed. The boy was caught and taken in procession to the mosque where his throat was cut.” Abu Awal, the district magistrate at Bhola had the reputation of being a loyal government servant. He protected the non-Bengalis population when the Awami League rose in revolt and prevented the Police station armoury from falling into the hands of the Mukti Fouj. When they attacked on 1st May, he went to receive them. The Brigadier in charge of the action asked him to resume his post. He had hardly turned his back on the officers, when a sepoy shot him with a rifle. About a dozen Bengali army officers were transferred to West Pakistan. They laid goodbye to their families and reported at Dacca Airport to board a PIA flight to Karachi.
