[3] The mutiny was led by Sergeant Afsar Ali Khan of the air force, who was a member of the Communist Party of East Bengal.

[2] The conspirators planned to gun down Zia and other high-ranking military officers at the Air Force Day celebrations on 28 September.

The hijacking of Japan Air Lines Flight 472 occurred on 28 September 1977 when the aircraft, en route from Paris to Tokyo made a stopover in Mumbai.

Zia put A.G. Mahmud in charge of the negotiations with the hijackers, who demanded the release of 9 imprisoned members of the JRA and the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, another far left group.

Enlisted soldiers of the 22 East Bengal Regiment killed two lieutenants and took the 93 Brigade Commander and several of his officers as hostages.

Sheikh Abdul Latif[2] of the Army Field Signals Battalion set off a cracker and fired a single rifle shot.

[2] In the cantonment, leaflets calling for continued armed revolution and the creation of an army without officers were spread among the troops.

The New York Times reported that "The rebel troops seized the Government radio early today and said 'A successful armed revolution has taken place with the help of the army, navy, air force, students and police'".

[3] Another source states "They announced that a revolution of the workers, peasants, students and people's army was underway and declared their coup a success".

[citation needed] Around 2 am on the morning of 2 October, Mahmud came down from the control tower to speak with one of the JRA prisoners brought in from Tokyo.

Upon hearing these gunshots, the air force officers present in the control tower fled, some changing into civilian clothes.

The following day, Zia received a congratulatory message from the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat,[2] for successfully putting down the insurrection.

"It was the most brutal, devastating punishment exercise in the history of Bangladesh, carried out with utmost speed and total disregard for justice and the legal process", commented Anthony Mascarenhas.