[3] On the night of 30 May, a group of officers commandeered the Chittagong Circuit House, a government residence where Rahman was staying, shooting him and several others.

"Less than 24 hours after taking office as president of Bangladesh, Zia announced a confidence referendum to gauge public views on his rule.

According to the Election Commission of Bangladesh, Zia received 98.87% of the vote, with only 1% of voters opposing his views, raising serious questions about the process.

His main rival was General MAG Osmani, the commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Liberation Army in 1971, who was supported by the Democratic Alliance, a platform of the Awami League and some left-wing parties.

Zia took several controversial steps to discipline the army and consolidate power, and to gain the support of some right-wing political parties such as the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Under which Ghulam Azam was allowed to enter the country and Abbas Ali Khan became the Ameer of the Jamaat in 1979, giving legitimacy to the politics of Bangladesh.

What is going on in Pakistan in the name of liberation war is Indian conspiracy and separatist movement ..."[13]Zia had appointed several people accused of killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman abroad.

The Indemnity Ordinance (which granted immunity from legal action to those involved in the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the coup and other political events between 1975 and 1979) was promulgated by President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in 1975, which was converted into an Act of Parliament by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on 9 July 1979 through the Indemnity Act, 1979.

Prime Minister Shah Azizur Rahman said in a secret letter to the Cabinet Division, "A song written by Rabindranath Tagore is the Indian national anthem.

"In the Prime Minister's letter, instead of "Amar Sonar Bangla", "Prothom Bangladesh" was proposed as the national anthem.

After receiving this letter from the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Division issued instructions to broadcast the Prothom Bangladesh song on radio, television and all government programs.

The mutineers freed Ziaur Rahman from his Dhaka cantonment house arrest and brought him to the headquarters of the 2nd Field Artillery.

That morning, Major General Khaled Musharraf, Colonel Khandkar Nazmul Huda and Lt. Col. ATM Hyder were killed by angry soldiers at the headquarters of the 10th East Bengal Regiment established by themselves in Sher Bangla Nagar in response to the counter-coup.

He was not shown the indictment or given the opportunity to defend himself or consult with a lawyer and, aware of the farce of the trial, Sayem failed to suspend Justice Taher's death sentence.

Regarding the October coup, the famous journalist Anthony Mascarenhas mentioned in his book A Legacy of Blood,During the next two months, 1143 soldiers were executed according to the official records of Bangladesh.

A report titled "Bangladesh Executions: A Discrepancy" in The Washington Post on 10 February 1978, said,In a secret cable sent to the State Department on January 19, 1978, the Charge d'Affaires of the American Embassy in Dhaka stated that according to his information, 217 military personnel were killed in the aftermath of the coup attempt.Alfred E. Bergensen noted in the report, "We think maybe 30-34 of them were executed before the military court was set up."

In a report last week by Amnesty International... a former senior Air Force officer told The Sunday Times that more than 800 army personnel had been convicted in military tribunals following the coups in Bogra on 30 September and in Dhaka on 2 October.

A report in the Mumbai Economic and Political Weekly on 25 March 1978, said,Although Amnesty is only prepared to say that at least 130 people and possibly several thousand have been executed, some well-informed sources in Dhaka say the number could be as high as 700.

The then Log Area Commander Colonel MA Hamid in his book 'Tinti sena obbhutthan o kichu na bola kotha (Three Army Coups and Unsaid Things)' mentions,"Every night from 3rd to 5th October, soldiers were taken from Army and Air Force barracks to torture camps, they never came back.

As a result, anger arose among the freedom fighter army officers including General Manzur and Colonel Matiur Rahman.

Because of this, I personally had to pay a lot of losses... Later, Ziaur Rahman sitting at the top of the power, the harassing steps taken against me, are still going on.

Colonel Mohammad Delwar Hossain, and complained about the 'wrongdoings of the government and the BNP - high prices, social injustices and corruption'.

[22] Mascarenhas claimed that "when Mafuzur also informed Moti (Matiur) that Zia had decided to visit Chittagong on the 29th, the idea for another assassination was born".

[26] At 4 am, Lieutenant Colonel Fazle Hossain started the attack by launching two rockets towards the circuit house which created two large holes in the building.

Shortly afterwards, however, Colonel Matiur Rahman arrived with another team and shot him from close range with a submachine gun.

Besides, by announcing the formation of revolutionary council, General Manjur called upon the freedom fighter officers to be united in the army.

General Manzoor was caught at Fatikchhari by both Police and Army force while Manjoor and his wife were feeding their children inside a tea garden.

Manzoor's death – at first described as having been at the hands of an "enraged mob", but later shown in an autopsy report to have been via a gunshot to the back of the head – added to the mystery.

Twelve officers, mostly veterans, were hanged for their alleged involvement in the killing of President Rahman after a hasty trial in a military court that was completed in 18 days only.

Giasuddin Ahmed latter became an Awami League member of National parliament from Gaffargaon Upazila, Mymensingh District.