Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim Lieutenant General Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim , Bir Bikrom is a former Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army who in 1996 attempted a military coup of the caretaker government which was preparing for general elections . He had participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded Bir Bikrom for valor by the government in 1971 . He was injured in one leg during this war . He was appointed Chief of Army Staff by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government led by prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia in 1993 . He studied at Faujdarhat Cadet College . After failure of the coup in 1996 , General Nasim was arrested , placed under house arrest , and subsequently dismissed from service . That year , the Awami League was elected to power in the government . It reverted Nasim ' s dismissal from the military and later provided him with an honorable discharge . Coup in 1996 . Lt . Gen . Nasim staged an abortive military coup in 1996 . On 19 May 1996 , Abdur Rahman Biswas , the President of Bangladesh during a caretaker government , ordered Lt . Gen . Nasim to force the retirement of two senior army officers . The President believed that they were involved in political activities with opposition parties . General Nasim refused to comply . The next day , Biswas sacked him and sent soldiers to control the state radio and television stations . On noon that day , General Nasim ordered soldiers of Bogra , Jessore and Mymensingh divisions to march towards Dhaka . The Ninth Infantry Division ' s Major General Imamuzzaman , who commanded the division located closest to Dhaka , remained loyal to the President . He directed the removal of all boats and ferries from Jamuna River in Aricha port , so that Bogra and Jessore divisions could not cross the river . He sent a contingent of troops with tanks to blockade the Dhaka - Mymenshing highway . This prevented Mymensing Division Army from entering Dhaka . In the meantime , Major General Mohammad Anwar Hossain , General Officer Commanding of the 33rd Infantry Division located in Comilla , also came to the aid of the president . He mobilized a fully geared 101 Infantry Brigade , under the command of Brig . Shah Ikram ( later Maj . Gen . ) to Dhaka to fortify Bangabhaban , the presidential palace . The 33rd Division was deployed , using an Infantry Battalion and a company of tanks from the 7th Horse Armoured Battalion at the Dhaka - Chittagong highway , to create a blockade against the 24th Infantry Division located in Chittagong . The government broadcast announcements asking all soldiers to stay at their own cantonment . After some hours , Mymensing Division soldiers returned to their barracks . The Chittagong Division never mobilized towards Dhaka . The General Officer Commanding of the Chittagong Division realized that the military coup was highly unlikely to succeed . That night General Nasim was interviewed by the BBC and , in reference to troop movements , he said that as Army Chief , he could move troops anytime he wanted . General Nasim was arrested by the Brigade Commander of 14 Independent Engineers Brigade and put under house arrest in the Army Mess behind Army Central Library , Staff road , Dhaka Cantonment . Later the Awami League government , which was elected to power in 1996 , granted him a formal retirement . Since then he has remained a private citizen .