& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Dinajpur people to recall 'mine blast tragedy' today

Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
January 6 brings back the horrific memory of the mine blast tragedy at Dinajpur town in 1972 that left at least 235 freedom fighters dead.
They had been staying at a transit camp in Balubari area in the town.
According to freedom fighters, the Pakistani troops planted hundreds of landmines at different places in the district as they sensed their defeat in the nine-month-long fierce fight against the valiant freedom fighters.
The freedom fighters collected the mines and stored those at Dinajpur Moharaja Girijanath High School compound after the victory.
According to witnesses and survivors, around 800 freedom fighters from different districts, including Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh,
Joypurhat, Naogaon and Rangpur, started residing at the transit camp soon after the independence of Bangladesh was declared.
The freedom fighters in the transit camp collected the mines and stored those at the transit camp premises.
Besides the landmines, the transit camp was full of other explosives like tank mine, antipersonnel-mine and mortars.
The recovered mines were brought to the transit camp on January 6 in 1972 in two trucks from Ghoraghat upazila when the freedom fighters in the transit camp were preparing to offer their evening prayer.
Some freedom fighters were engaged to unload the mines.
The horrific incident occurred in a second, as a landmine fell to the ground from the hands of
a freedom fighter. Rapidly, the mines of the area went off with loud noise and big explosion of fire, which was visible from a long distance.
The explosion rocked the entire town.
Around 200 freedom fighters were killed on the spot, said Forhat Hossain, a freedom fighter of Dinajpur, while scores of them were injured badly.
Their bodies were recovered and buried at Chehelgazi Mazar, under Dinajpur Sadar upazila, with state honours the next day, he said, adding that all were buried without shrouds.
So far, 235 of the deceased freedom fighters have been identified, he added.
"Even 47 years after that tragedy, the exact number of the dead could not be collected due to lack of initiatives," Forhat said.