Mohammad Bazlul Huda

Mohammad Bazlul Huda
মোহাম্মদ বজলুল হুদা
Born	(1949-01-19)January 19, 1949 Alamdanga, Chuadanga, East Pakistan
Died	(2010-01-28)28 January 2010 Dhaka Central Jail, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	Murder (assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman)
Criminal penalty	Death
Military career
Allegiance	Pakistan (Before 1971) Bangladesh
Service / branch	Pakistan Army Mukti Bahini Bangladesh Army
Years of service	1968–1980
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	Regiment of Artillery
Commands	Deputy Commander of K Force 2IC of 1st Field Artillery Regiment CO of 4th Field Artillery Regiment
Known for	Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Battles / wars	Bangladesh Liberation War 15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état

Mohammad Bazlul Huda (died 28 January 2010) was a Bangladeshi Army officer and freedom fighter who was convicted of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founding president of Bangladesh. On 28 January 2010, Bazlul was executed along with Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, and A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed in Old Dhaka Central Jail.

Early life & Career

Bazlul Huda was born in a highly aristocratic and prestigious family from Gangni,Meherpur. He was a direct descendant of the last baro bhuiya leader usman Khan lohani of uhar kingdom(sylhet). His maternal grandfather was an M.L.A. His father Dr.Riyaz was also an M.L.A. in 1954. His ancestral home is in Hatboyalia,Alamdanga,Chuadanga. Bazlul Huda was commissioned in Pakistan Army's Artillery Regiment. During the 1971 liberation war, Bazlul Huda fled from West Pakistan to the East Pakistan to join the Freedom fighters. He was posted as the second-in-command of k -force's 1st Field Artillery battery. Then the commander of the 1st Field Artillery battery was Captain Aziz Pasha. In 1975, he was posted in the Military intelligence department as a Captain. During 15th August 1975,It was he(Huda) who killed Sheikh Kamal & Sheikh Mujib with sten gun. Sheikh Mujib was shot 18 times during the time among which the ones shot by Huda bursted his heart.

In 1973, Captain Huda was posted to 1st Field Artillery Regiment in Comilla Cantonment along with Major Shariful Haque Dalim. Dalim had gotten into a scuffle with the sons of Awami League leader Gazi Golam Mostafa. Later some officers and soldiers attacked the residence of Mostofa. The officers, including Major Dalim, lost their commissions in Bangladesh Army because of indiscipline shortly after.

Huda met with other conspirators to finalize the plans on 14 August 1975. On 15 August 1975, Huda was part of the mutinous troops that attacked the home of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Huda along with Major S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury shot dead Sheikh Mujib as he was coming down the stairs. Major Syed Faruque Rahman promoted Captain Huda to Major at the home of Sheikh Mujib after Mujib and his family members were killed. The assassins were protected by the government of Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad that took power next, through the passage of 1975 Indemnity Ordinance.

In August 1989 Huda had ordered Freedom Party, the party founded by the mutinous officers, activists to attack the Bangabandhu Bhaban when Sheikh Hasina was staying there. On 11 February 1990, an Bangladesh Awami League rally was attacked by activists of Freedom Party killing one member of Bangladesh Awami League. Huda was arrested while fleeing from the spot.

Trial

On 2 October 1996, AFM Mohitul Islam filed a case over the murder of Sheikh Mujib and most of his family members in 1975. Dhaka sessions court on 8 November 1998 had given death sentences to Huda and 14 co-defendants. The convicts filled an appeal with Bangladesh High Court. The High court gave a split verdict with one judge confirming the death penalty of all 15 while another confirmed it for 10 of the accused on 14 December 2000. A third judge only confirmed the sentence of 12 of the accused. On 19 November 2009, Bangladesh Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of 12 of the accused. On 1996, Huda was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand on charges of shoplifting and ordered to be deported to Bangladesh. He declared himself stateless and applied for asylum with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Death

On 28 January 2010, Huda was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail along with 4 other co-conspirators. But in 2024 August a video has become viral where his brother claimed that he was not hanged instead he was slaughtered by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for killing her family on 15 August 1975 and also the photos of him having marks on his throat indicating that he was indeed slaughtered instead of hanged. His family claimed that then-Prime Minister and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's daughter Sheikh Hasina herself slaughtered him by cutting his throat on 28 January 2010 at the jail. According to some newspapers, the electricity went off in the jail and the surrounding area at 11:40 PM that night. Just 20 minutes before the power outage, five coffins were brought in. During the blackout, two Pajero jeeps with tinted windows entered the jail. In one of these jeeps, Sheikh Hasina was allegedly present. Some sources suggest that Huda was never taken to the gallows that night. Instead, he was kept in a room in the administrative building. After the other four killers were hanged, Hasina allegedly went to that room, where a Hindu executioner, brought in from Kashimpur Jail, was waiting. Four men reportedly held Huda down while Hasina placed one of her feet on his chest, and the executioner slaughtered him. According to an eyewitness, Huda's blood stained Hasina's saree, Bazlul Huda was slaughtered to death by Sheikh Hasina rather than being hanged to death like his comrades. After the fall of Hasina, Huda's family filed a murder case on her and others for his alleged killing.