○○> বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : অষ্টম খন্ড In the villages the houses have been distributed among members of the right wing Jamat-e-Islam and Muslim League which were humiliated in the last election by the Awamil League. All Hindu bank accounts have also been frozen, together with those of suspected Awami League supporters. The manager of the British National & Grindlays Bank in Dacca was the only banker to have queried the directive. Bengalis have also been forbidden to approach major rail way, port and dock installations. When 5,000 labourers returned to work in Chittagong docks on 1st May, they were driven away. The installations are now run by military, naval and nonBengali personnel. Senior railway officers in Chittagong were shot and the workers colony burnt down. In Dacca, Ishurdi and Syedpur no Bengali dares approach a railway junction. At Dacca and Chittagong airports, 250 porters were flown in from West Pakistan to replace the Bengalis. Three thousand Punjabi police now patrol Dacca while Khyber Rifles from the North-West Frontier and Rangers from the West Pakistan border, man police stations outside. Most of the 10,000 militiamen in East Pakistan Rifles who revolted in March have either crossed the border or are hiding in the villages. Those who responded to an amnesty call surrendered in Dacca on 15th May, they were seen being driven away in open trucks blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. A few days later hundreds of naked corpses were found in the river Buriganga and Sitalakhya. The East Pakistan Rifles have now been renamed the Pakistan Defence Force and hundreds of Biharis have been recruited. They are now being trained with rifles and machine-guns at Peelkhana. On 28th May, in the Khilgaon district of Dacca, 100 suspects were picked up after a bomb damaged a non-Bengali shop. At Motijheel, a non-Bengali, demanded 10,000 rupees (about 600 Pounds) from his neighbour, threatening to hand him over to the army if the money was not paid within 24 hours. A radio and camera retailer in Stadium market, Dacca found his stock missing on the 12th May, and reported the incident to the Martial Law Headquarters. That night during curfew, the shop was set on fire. Begum Majeda, a housewife, was fetching water from a street tap. Two Punjabi policemen tried to lift her on to a truck. She screamed and the Punjabis were beaten off with sticks and stones. That night whole of the Bashabo area was set on fire.
