Arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Part of Operation Searchlight
Arrested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Karachi International Airport in April 1971

Date	26 March 1971 (1971-03-26)
Time	01:30 (UTC+6)
Duration	9 months and 14 days
Location	677/32 Dhanmondi, New Dacca, East Pakistan, Pakistan (present-day New Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Coordinates	23°45′06″N 90°22′36″E / 23.7517°N 90.3767°E / 23.7517; 90.3767
Type	Arrest
Cause	Non-cooperation movement
Participants	Pakistan Army
Outcome	Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was sent to jail in Lyallpur, Punjab
Deaths	1
Arrests	Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Charges	Treason
Trial	Secret military tribunal
Verdict	Death sentence

Part of a series on the
Independence of Bangladesh

Events
Partition of Bengal Bengali language movement Six Point program Agartala Conspiracy Case Eleven Points Programme East Pakistan mass uprising Pakistani general election Non-cooperation movement 7 March Speech Operation Searchlight Proclamation of Independence
Organisations
East Pakistan Renaissance Society Awami League United Front East Pakistan Communist Party NAP-CPB-BSU Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra
Key persons
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy A. K. Fazlul Huq Sheikh Mujibur Rahman M. A. G. Osmani Tajuddin Ahmed Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Ziaur Rahman Serajul Alam Khan
Related
Lahore Resolution United Bengal Bangladesh Liberation War International recognition
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History of Pakistan

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At around 01:30 on 26 March 1971 (UTC+6), Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the president of the All-Pakistan Awami League (AL) and the premier-elect in the 1970 Pakistani general election, was arrested by the Pakistan Army's Special Service Group from his private residence in Dacca, East Pakistan, Pakistan, in present-day Bangladesh. The arrest operation was codenamed Operation Big Bird and occurred with Operation Searchlight. Following his arrest, Mujib was incarcerated in Lyallpur, and on 2 August, it was announced that he would be tried in a military tribunal behind closed doors. The tribunal brought charges of treason against him.

Immediately after Mujib's arrest, following a month-long non-cooperation movement, the Bangladesh Liberation War began, and the Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed, declaring Mujib as its president. On 4 December, the military tribunal sentenced him to death, although the verdict was kept secret. However, before the sentence could be carried out, Bangladesh and India's joint Allied Forces launched an offensive into East Pakistan, leading to the surrender of the Pakistan Army in Dacca on 16 December. After the surrender, the government of Yahya Khan collapsed, and following the rise of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the new Pakistani president, Mujib was released on 8 January 1972.