On this day in 1975, Syed Nazrul Islam, acting president of Bangladesh government in exile in 1971, Tajuddin Ahmed, prime minister of the same government, M Mansur Ali, finance minister, and AHM Qamaruzzaman, minister for home affairs, relief and rehabilitation, were gunned down inside the Dhaka Central Jail.

The day is known as the 'Jail Killing Day'.

Only 79 days after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family on August 15, 1975, the power usurpers took the desperate bid.

A murder case was filed with Lalbagh Police Station the following day, but the then government halted the process of trial by promulgating an ordinance that indemnified the assassins which apparently blocked the investigation and trial of the killings for about 21 years until the law was scrapped during 1996-2001 Awami League rule.

The trial was also delayed due to judicial tangles.

On October 20, 2004, a Dhaka court sentenced three to death, awarded life imprisonment to 12 and acquitted five in the long-awaited verdict of the historic Jail Killing Case.

Those to walk the gallows are resalder (retd) Muslemuddin, dafadar (dismissed) Marfat Ali Shah and dafadar (dismissed) Abdul Hashem Mridha, all on the run.

Former BNP lawmaker KM Obaidur Rahman, Shah Moazzem Hossain, Nurul Islam Monzoor, Taheruddin Thakur and additional secretary of foreign ministry Khairuzzaman, who were freed on bail soon after the BNP-led four-party coalition came to power, were relieved of the charges.

Three of the 12 awarded life term imprisonment -- Lt Col (dismissed) Syed Faruk Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan and major (retd) Bazlul Huda -- were sentenced to death in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder case.

Others who were awarded life imprisonment are Lt Col (dismissed) Khondaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haq Dalim, Lt Col (retd) SHMB Noor Chowdhury, major (Retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lt Col (retd) AM Rashed Chowdhury, major (relieved) Ahmed Shariful Hossain, captain (retd) Abdul Majed, captain (relieved) Kismat Hasem, captain (relieved) Nazmul Hossain for abetting the murderers.

In a press statement yesterday, Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina said the killing of four national leaders was part of the anti-liberation force's long-drawn conspiracy to render the nation leaderless.

The anti-liberation force that killed Bangabandhu occupied the state power unconstitutionally and enacted laws to save the killers of four leaders and Bangabandhu, Hasina said, adding, "The same evil force is still active to destroy the country's development and stability through anarchy and subversive acts."

The AL will hoist the national and party flags at half-mast and black flags atop party offices in Dhaka and elsewhere at 5:30am in observance of the Jail Killing Day. Leaders and workers of the AL and its front organisations will also wear black badges.

The day's programmes also include garlanding the portrait of Bangabandhu, placing wreaths at the graves of the national leaders and those killed on August 15, 1975 at Banani Graveyard and offering fateha and organising milad and special prayers.