পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (সপ্তম খণ্ড).pdf/৪৮

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : সপ্তম খণ্ড
14

In the next half-hour, nine more had fallen. Only a few survivors managed to escape to the company headquarters about a kilometer away. Shortage of ammunition and lack of cover were the immediate causes of the disaster.

 The other posts in Kushtia town-the telephone exchange and V.H.F. station-had simultaneously come under equally severe attack. So neither of the posts could reinforce the other. In the company headquarters, eleven la dead at one place and fourteen at another. In all, twenty-five out of sixty men had been massacred in the early part of the engagement. Frantic messages for help were sent to Jessore and even an air strike was requested, but nothing reached Kushtia. The last message received from Jessore by the end of the day said, Troops here already committed- No reinforcement possible. Air strike called off poor visibility...Khuda Hafiz!

 Major Shoaid collected the remnants of his command to reorganize them. He found that only 65 had survived out of 150. He decided to abandon Kushtia and take the survivors to Jessore. IIc lined one three-ton truck, one Dodge and six jeeps. The convoy left at night with the company commander in one of the leading jeeps. They had traveled barely 25 Kilometers when the leading vehicles, including the one that carried Major Shoaib, caved into a culvert which had been cut by the rebels in the centre deceptively covered from the surface. As soon as the convoy stopped, it came under intense fire both sides of the road. Our troops jumped down and hit the ground but bullets continued to rain on them. Only nine out of the sixty-five managed to crawl out and disappear into the country-side. Most of them were later captured by the rebels, and subjected to a barbaric end.

 The story of the Pabna action has many features in common with the Kushtia catastrophe. Here, a company of 25 Punjab had been sent from Rajshahi 'just to establish our presence'. The 130 men had arrived in Pabna with only first line ammunition and there days rations. On arrival, the company was split into small detachments, which were posted at vulnerable points like the powerhouse and the telephone exchange. They also visited the residences of local political leaders but found no one. The company established its presence without any resistance and lived in peace for the first thirty-six hours. Then at about 6 p. m. on 27 March, all the posts came under intense fire from across the nullah (ravine). The rebel force consisted of an East Pakistan Rifles (900 men), 30 Policemen and 40 Awami League volunteers. They didn't know our strength. They therefore kept on firing from a distance without assaulting our positions. Our troops also opened up but shortage of ammunition imposed heavy restrictions on the volume of fire One N.C.O and two other ranks were wounded in this initial encounter.

 Captain Asghar, who was being constantly harassed by a rebel light machinc-gun, decided to silence it. He took a few volunteers with him and changed its position. He knocked it out with a hand grenade which exploded right inside the post. But at the same time, another light machine-gun sent a burst into Captain Asghar. Badly hit, he swerved around to take cover behind the pillar of the gate, but collapsed. The raid was called off. Another attempt was made by Lieutenant Rashid who also died in action.

 Meanwhile, all the posts were wound up except that at the telephone exchange. The rebels also regrouped, then launched an all-out attack. The lightly equipped defenders realized their folly, but too late. They had to pay very dearly for it. They lost two officers.