Raifqul Hasan Khan was born in 1958 in Meherpur of Kushtia district. He was a student at Jhenaidah Cadet College when the Bangladesh Liberation War began in 1971. Aged 13, he participated in the war alongside his father, Mohammad Hashem Ali Khan. Rafiqul and his father stayed at a camp in Nadia, West Bengal.[2]
Rafiqul joined the Bangladesh Army on 25 July 1977 and was commissioned on 18 July 1978, being assigned to the 6 East Bengal Regiment.[2]
On 29 May 1981, Lt. Colonel Shah Mohammad Fazle Hossain called Lieutenant Rafiqul to his office, where he asked Rafiqul, "Will you go anywhere that I go?" Rafiqul replied, "If you order me, sir".[3]
At 2:30 am on 30 May 1981, the conspirators organised three teams. The first two teams were to attack the Circuit House, where Zia was staying, and the third team was to shoot anyone trying to escape. Rafiqul was in the first strike team, along with Lt. Colonel Fazle, Lt. Colonel Mehboob, Major Khalid, Captain Jamil Haque, and Captain Abdus Sattar. On the way to the Circuit House, Lieutenant Rafiqul asked Lt. Colonel Fazle, "Are you going to kill the president?" Fazle replied, "No, we will only get him".[4]
After the assassination, the acting president, Abdus Sattar, announced that those who crossed the Shuvapur Bridge before 12 pm on 31 May 1981 would be pardoned. Later the chief of army staff, General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, extended the amnesty by another 18 hours. While the amnesty was in force, Rafiq surrendered at the provisional headquarters of the 44 Infantry Brigade in Feni.[2]
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh Army