Battle of Kushtia
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| Battle of Khustia | |||||||||
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| Part of Bangladesh Liberation War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Abu Osman Chowdhury (POW) |
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| Units involved | |||||||||
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Sector – VIII |
 27th Baluch Regiment | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 5,000 militiamen and policemen | 147 troops | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 50–70 killed, 500 captured or disarmed, 10k+ Bengalis Massacred, Most of the rebels got captured |
Unknown | ||||||||
The Battle of Khustia (Bengali: কুষ্টিয়ার যুদ্ধ) was a battle between the Bengali guerrillas including policemen against the Pakistan Army in March and April 1971, The battle was fought by the Mukti Fauj and the 27th Baluch Regiment of the Pakistan Army.
The battle started in late March after the Pakistan Army began Operation Searchlight, when Pakistanis took Kushtia, and later Bengalis started a mass campaign to capture Kushtia. But this campaign is halted by the 27th Baluch Regiment. Most of the people in Kushtia were massacred and raped (mostly Hindus).
Battle
[edit]13 jeeps and trucks came to a halt outside Kushtia's police station. It was 10:30 on the night, the war broke out. Delta Company of the 27th Baluch Regiment had arrived from its base at Jessore cantonment 60 miles to the south. The 147 men of the company, quickly disarmed some 500 Bengali policemen without meeting any resistance and then occupied four additional key points, the district police headquarters, the government office building, the VHP radio transmitter and the Zilla School for boys. Most of the sleeping townspeople did not realize what had happened until 5:30 a.m., when Jeeploads of soldiers with bullhorns drove through the empty streets announcing that a total curfew was to begin 30 minutes later.
Kushtia remained calm for 48 hours while the curfew was in effect, although seven persons—mostly peasants who arrived in town unaware of what had happened—were shot to death for being found in the streets.[1] The curfew was lifted on the morning of 28 March, and the people of the town began to organize a resistance immediately. But this resistance unabled to gain in Kushtia region under the leadership of Mohammed Ayub who is commanding the 27th Baluch Regiment.
References
[edit]- ^ Alamgir, Mohiuddin; Nandy, Dipan (25 March 2023). "Kushtia's tale of unimaginable brutality". The Daily Star. Retrieved 17 April 2024.