A report by Amar Desh recounts meetings at Senabhaban and Bangabhaban on August 5, 2024, involving political leaders, army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman and President Mohammad Shahabuddin. It says the army chief consulted party leaders on forming an interim government after news spread that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had left the country. A group of leaders later travelled to Bangabhaban with the army chief and the chiefs of the three services.

According to the report, the army chief told retired Major General Fazle Elahi Akbar that the military would not be party to bloodshed and that he did not seek power. At Bangabhaban, he said the prime minister had resigned and left the country. The report says the president told Saiful Haque that he had received the prime minister’s resignation letter.

Discussions covered Khaleda Zia’s release, dissolution of parliament, the release of detainees and disappeared persons, and law and order. Bangabhaban’s written decisions called for an interim government without delay, firm army action against looting and violence, and Khaleda Zia’s immediate release. On August 6, Bangabhaban announced the dissolution of parliament and Khaleda Zia’s release.