Major reshuffle in Bangladesh Army, General Zia sacked and put in jail

By Staff Reporter

Day after Bangladesh’s army chief announced an interim government, a major reshuffle has been undertaken in the military. Major General Ziaul Ahsan, the director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), has been sacked. He has been replaced by Maj Gen ASM Ridwanur Rahman.

Lt Gen Md Saiful Alam’s job has been entrusted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release on August 6.

Lt Gen Mizanur Rahman Shamim has been made Chief of General Staff of the Army. Lt Gen Mujibur Rahman has been made General Officer Commanding

(GOC) of the Army Training and Doctrine Command, and Lt Gen Ahmed Tabrez Shams Chowdhury has been made Quarter Master General.

Lt Gen Mohammad Shaheenul Haque has been made Commandant of the National Defence College (NDC).

Meanwhile, the sacked Major General Ziaul Ahsan, was detained in dramatic circumstances around midnight on August 6, after the plane he was on was brought back from the Dhaka airport runway to the boarding bridge.

It was learnt that DGFI members took him back to Dhaka Cantonment.

Ziaul Ahsan was arrested Emirates Flight 585 was made to taxi back to the boarding bridge from the runway, sources at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said.

Major General Ziaul Ahsan, served as Director General of National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre since 2022 before he was relieved of duty.

Before that, he was the director of that company.

Ziaul Ahsan became the vice-captain of Rab-2 in 2009 when he was a major. In the same year, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed director of the intelligence wing of the Rab headquarters. From that time many controversies were created about him.