| 1st Bengal Lancers | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1974-1976[citation needed] |
| Country | Bangladesh |
| Branch | Bangladesh Army |
| Type | Tank regiment |
| Garrison/HQ | Dhaka Cantonment |
| Equipment | 30T-54 Tanks |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
|
The1st Bengal Lancers was theBangladesh Army's first tank regiment. It is famous for being the main force behind the15 August 1975 coup, which resulted in the assassination ofSheikh Mujib and his family.[1]
After the Bangladesh Liberation War, the newly formed Bangladesh Army was short staffed and had only inherited a few obsolete Pakistani tanks.[2] In 1973, Bangladesh had donated tea and medical supplies to theEgyptian Army as support and the Egyptian government wanted to thank them. After the1973 Arab-Israeli war,Anwar Sadat decided to donate 30 EgyptianT-54 tanks to the Bangladesh government.[1] This donation of tanks was used to raise the first proper tank regiment in Bangladesh.
After its formation, Colonel Momen was assigned as the CO, withMajor Farooq being his second-in-command. However, as Farooq had more experience from serving in Pakistan's Armoured Corps, he was the de facto commander.[1]
Horrified by the corruption and incompetency that he saw during thefamine of 1974, Farooq and his brother-in-law,Khandaker Abdul Rashid, came up with a plan to assassinate Sheikh Mujib. They combined the 1st Bengal Lancers with the 2nd Field Artillery unit and started planning a coup. With the political backing ofKhandaker Mostaq Ahmed, they formed kill squads with a group of like-minded Majors and assassinated most ofSheikh Mujib's family.[3] Tanks from the Lancers were used to neutralize theJatiya Rakkhi Bahini, .[1] Afterwords,Major Dalim captured the army chief,KM Shafiullah, and forced him and the other service chiefs to swear allegiance to President Ahmed.[4]
On November 3, theCGS BrigadierKhaled Mosharraf launched a counter coup, which resulted in all of the assassins agreeing to leave the country.[5] Then-Major General Mosharraf would later be assassinated during theSepoy Mutiny, in support of Major GeneralZiaur Rahman.[5] Afterwords, the 1st Bengal Lancers was split between Savar and Bogra.[1]