During the war of independence of Bangladesh, ABM Safdar was director general of Special Branch of police in service for the Pakistani government. His loyalty to Bangladesh and Bangabandhu government was questionable. ABM Safdar was rumored to have links with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation through the unconditional surrender of the Pakistani army to the joint command of Bangladesh and Indian forces on December 16, 1971. The nine-month long Liberation War was marked by the monstrous massacre of unarmed Bengali civilians and heinous sexual violence committed against thousands of Bengali women. The jubilation of the victorious people of Bangladesh on December 16, therefore, was tinged with a sense of gloom as they faced the painful reality that the liberation of Bangladesh had been achieved at the cost of the lives of their loved ones. Describing the situation of Dhaka city after the surrender of the Pakistani army, Jahanara Imam wrote in her seminal book