Special to the New York Times

Dacca, Pakistan, March 25 -- The leader of East Pakistan Sheik Mujibur Rahman, tonight called a general strike throughout the province for Saturday in protest against "reports of heavy firing upon the civilian population and of the atrocities being committed on them."

Reports that East Pakistani civilians have been killed by the West Pakistani troops stationed here have been trickling into Dacca for the last 24 hours. In his announcement, Sheik Mujib called it "a reign of terror."

One unconfirmed report said that tanks had been sent into the southern port city of Chittagong.

Sheik Mujib, who has been demanding self-rule for East Pakistan, said that the army killings had occurred while President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan of Pakistan, who is also the army commander in chief, was in Dacca "for the declared purpose of resolving politically the grave crisis facing the country."

"I urge him," Sheik Mujib said, "to order immediate cessation of such military operations."

In his statement Sheik Mujib carefully refrained from saying he was breaking off negotiations. Some sources in the Awami League attribute his restraint to a wish not to give the army any excuse for action against East Pakistanis.

Demands are opposed

Sheik Mujib's call for the one-day strike came a few hours after the third major participant in the talks, the dominant leader of West Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, held a news conference at which he said that he opposed two of the Sheik Mujib's most important demands for East Pakistan's autonomy -- control over its own foreign aid and foreign trade.

Only piecemeal reports of the killings in the provinces are available. These reports say that West Pakistani troops opened fire on civilians in Rangpur, Saidpur and Chittagong

In the present volatile atmosphere, rumors can mushroom. One report said that at least 50 civilians had been killed in the Rangpur and Saidpur incidents. Another report put the toll at more than 100.

Military curfews have been imposed on both these towns in the northwest.

No deaths have yet been reported in Chittagong, but Sheik Mujib said in his statement tonight that "reports are pouring in of heavy firing."

The confrontations occurred when the civilians tried to prevent the army from unloading a ship carrying arms and ammunition.

The army's accounts of such incidents in recent days have also proved unreliable because they invariably understate the death toll.