1977 Bogra mutiny

When Ziaur Rahman was the Chief of Army Staff, he served as the Chief Martial Law Administrator after the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On 21 April 1977 President Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem resigned and Zia became president of Bangladesh.^[3][4]

In July 1977, two months before the September uprising, the Bogra Cantonment had seen a mutiny which had led to the mutinous unit being disbanded. The cause behind that mutiny was resentment over an insufficient pay increase.^{[citation needed]}

The mutiny took place in Bogra cantonment under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Zaman. The government of Bangladesh was preoccupied with Japan Airlines Flight 472 which was hijacked and had landed in Dhaka.^[5] Enlisted men had killed their officers and there were reports of gunfire in Bogra town.^{[citation needed]} The 22nd Regiment had mutinied.^[6]

The mutiny failed. By the end of October 1977, special military tribunals had tried and convicted 55 people of involvement in the mutiny. They were sentenced to death. Amnesty International wrote that there was "reason to believe" that executions continued into the new year.^[7] According to a 2014 report in The Daily Observer, hundreds of soldiers were executed and buried in mass graves in Rajshahi.^[6]