পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (চতুর্দশ খণ্ড).pdf/৩৬

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ চতুর্দশ খণ্ড
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শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ
অবস্থা সৈন্যদের নিয়ন্ত্রণে বাল্টিমোর সান ২৮ মার্চ, ১৯৭১

THE BALTIMORE SUN-MARCH 28, 1971
TROOPS TAKE OVER
By John E. Woodruff

 In two days of shooting and burning, the West Pakistan Army has abruptly arrested East Pakistan's slide toward independence by turning Dacca into a city of gunfire and flame.

 By the time President A. M. Yahya Khan announced last night the end of his cautious, two-year-old experiment in democracy, the Army already had shot its way into control of the East Pakistan capital, leaving huge fires visible in all directions, and reportedly clapped Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, elected leader of East Pakistan's 75 million people, in jail.

 In all the rounds of automatic weapons fire only a few shots were heard that seemed clearly to suggest that anyone was returning the army's fire.

 In the few incidents witnessed by newsmen, soldiers fired heavy machine guns at empty-handed civilians without warning. Deaths or other casualties could not be confirmed.

 The first sign that something more than a breakdown of the talks was taking place came with a report that President Yahya had left the heavily fortified Presidential House in Dacca about 5:45 p.m. An inquiry at the gate about two hours later produced, from the civilian guard in charge of the reduced troop detachments still there, the reply: “This is a very bad time to ask that question (about the President's whereabouts)"

 At 11 p.m. soldiers began to round up newsmen on the ground of the Intercontinental Hotel and order them inside with threats to shoot. Automatic weapons fire began in various parts of the city. A telephone call to Sheikh Mujib's house at 12:20 a.m. yesterday was answered by a calm voice that said the Sheikh was in bed.

 This morning Karachi radio spoke specifically of the Sheikh's whereabouts for the first time, claiming that he and five of his lieutenants were arrested about an hour and e10 minutes after that phone call. The telephones at the hotel went dead about 10 minutes after the call.

 Meanwhile, troops at the hotel tore down the green, red and gold flags of Bangladesh that had been flying nearby and burned piles of them on the lawn.

 The first artillery rounds were heard and seen about 1 a. m. Friday, in the direction of the new camps of Dacca University where Bengal student leaders long have been active.