Agartala Conspiracy Case Agartala Conspiracy Case ( ) was a sedition case in Pakistan , brought forward by the Government of Pakistan against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , the then leader of the Awami League and East Pakistan , and 34 other persons . The case . The case was filed in early 1968 , and implicated Sheikh Mujib and others in conspiring with India against the stability of Pakistan . The case is officially called " State vs . Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others " , but is popularly known by " Agartala Shoŗojontro Mamla " ( Agartala conspiracy case ) as the main conspiracy was purported to have taken place in the Indian city of Agartala in Tripura state , where Sheikh Mujib ' s associates met Intelligence Bureau officials . The accused . The Government of Pakistan resolved to frame charge against 35 concerned political personalities and high government officials under civil law . They were : Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , Ahmed Fazlur Rahman CSP , Commander Moazzem Hossain , Steward Mujibur Rahman , former LS Sultanuddin Ahmad , LSCDI Nur Mohammad , Flight Sergeant Mahfiz Ullah , Corporal Abdus Samad , former Havildar Dalil Uddin , Ruhul Quddus CSP , Flight Sergeant Md . Fazlul Haq , Bibhuti Bhushan Chowdhury alias Manik Chowdhury , Bidhan Krishna Sen , Subedar Abdur Razzaque , former clerk Mujibur Rahman , former Flight Sergeant Md . Abdur Razzaque , Sergeant Zahurul Haq , A . B . Khurshid , Khan Mohammad Shamsur Rahman CSP , AKM Shamsul Haque , Havildar Azizul Haq , Mahfuzul Bari , Sergeant Shamsul Haq , Shamsul Alam , Captain Md . Abdul Motaleb , Captain Shawkat Ali , Captain Khondkar Nazmul Huda , Captain A . N . M Nuruzzaman , Sergeant Abdul Jalil , Mahbub Uddin Chowdhury , Lt . M Rahman , former Subedar Tajul Islam , Ali Reza , Captain Khurshid Uddeen Ahmed , and Lt . Abdur Rauf . The plot and detection . The plot was conceived by Sheikh Mujib in an attempt to ignite an armed revolution against West Pakistan that would result in the secession . Two of the accused , navy steward Mujibur Rahman and the educationist Mohammad Ali Reza went to Agartala , Tripura , a city in Eastern India to seek Indian support for an independent Bangladesh . The alleged conspiracy was uncovered by the Lt Col Shamsul Alam , who commanded the East Pakistan Detachment of the ISI ( Inter - Services Intelligence ) Directorate . It was during this time that an officer of the East Bengal Regiment , by the name of Rauf ur Rahman ( an officer who later showed great cowardice in war ) who was in league with the conspirators made an attempt on the life of Lt Col Alam . Lt Col Alam displayed great bravery and chased the would - be assassins ; for his gallantry Lt Col Alam was awarded the Sitara - e - Basalat , the highest award for bravery in action during peacetime . 1 , 500 Bengalis were arrested in connection with the plot in 1967 . In January 1968 the Home Department of Pakistan declared that it had detected a scheme to destabilize Pakistan and break the Eastern wing through an armed revolt , and had arrested 8 people . Later on January 18 , the Department implicated Sheikh Mujib as well . He and others were arrested on 9 May 1968 , and were subsequently released , only to be arrested later . The trials . Pakistan decided to try the accused under the court martial since a lot of the accused involved military personnel . However , this was overturned in favor of a civil trial in order to implicate the politicians ahead of the 1970 elections as well as to provide transparency of the trials . Hence , only 35 were finally accused . The accused were then moved from Dhaka Central Jail to the secured borders of the Dhaka Cantonment . The penal codes were amended to benefit the prosecution of the accused , and trial began on 19 June 1968 under a special tribunal . The hearings took place inside a secured chamber within Dhaka Cantonment . The charge sheet of 100 paragraphs were presented before the tribunal , with 227 witnesses and 7 approvers . The tribunal was headed by 3 judges - the chair , Justice SA Rahman was a non - Bengali ; the other members MR Khan and Maksumul Hakim were Bengalis . The government was represented by the Attorney General TH Khan and former Foreign Minister Manzur Quader . Thomas Williams , a British lawyer , along with local attorneys challenged the formation of the tribunal by filing a petition in favor of Sheikh Mujib . The approvers appeared in the witness box and testified that they provided false evidence under the coercion of the State . Members of public looked at the case as a conspiracy of the Pakistan government against the political autonomy movement of East Pakistan , especially since the government was keen to prove that Sheikh Mujib was an Indian agent and a separatist . They organized mass movement and demanded immediate withdrawal of the case and release of all prisoners . According to the government decision , the final date for the case was 6 February 1969 . However , because of the mass upsurge of 1969 , the government had to defer the date . In the morning of 15 February 1969 , a Pakistani habildar shot point blank at Sergeant Zahurul Haq at the door of his cell in the jail . The news of the killing led a furious mob to set fire to the State Guest House and other government buildings , where the chief lawyer for the government and the Chair of the tribunal resided . They vacated secretly . Some of the case files and evidences got burnt as a result of the arson . In the face of mass movement , the government had to withdraw the Agartala Conspiracy Case on 22 February 1969 . The accused were released on the following day , and the Race course Maidan saw a grand reception of the accused , where Sheikh Mujib was given his famous title " Bangabandhu " . Aftermath . The case was ultimately withdrawn in the face of a massive popular uprising , which ultimately resulted in the 1969 uprising in East Pakistan and the fall of General Ayub Khan ' s dictatorship in 1969 . The case and the resulting uprising is seen as one of the major events leading to " Bengali nationalism " and Bangladesh Liberation War . Sergeant Zahurul Haq were honored by naming a students ' residential hall of the University of Dhaka in his name . Confession by conspirators . In 2010 , and on the anniversary of the withdrawal on 22 February 2011 , surviving conspirator and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Shawkat Ali confessed to the parliament at a point of order that the charges read out to them were accurate , stating that they formed a Shangram Parishad under Sheikh Mujib for the secession of East Pakistan . Parliamentarian Tofael Ahmed added that had the case not been filed , the plot would have culminated in the secession of East Pakistan without bloodshed , and credit the Deputy Speaker for planning the liberation of the nation .