Author: Nilova Roy Chaudhury
Publication: The Satesman
Date: April 12, 2004
The discovery of 10 truck loads
of arms of worth between Rs 200 and Rs 300 crore at Chittagong port on
2 April is "something which directly impacts our security and the security
of the region" and is "a matter of serious concern," an official said today.
And while no 'demarche' (formal
diplomatic protest) has been issued to the Bangladesh government yet, the
Indian high commission in Dhaka is "very closely watching and monitoring"
the course of official investigations into what is being termed the 'largest
ever haul of illegal weapons' in that country.
Officials believe the weapons (which,
according to local media reports, included thousands of automatic weapons,
and around one million rounds of ammunition, 150 rocket grenade launchers,
and 25,000 hand grenades) were headed for India for use by insurgents,
especially those active in the North-east, during the elections.
Yesterday, agency reports from Chittagong
had quoted city mayor Mr ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury as having said that the
cache of arms and ammunition were "shipped from the USA and Pakistan to
arm Indian rebels camped in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)."
Bangladesh has repeatedly denied
New Delhi's charge that Indian insurgents were sheltered in its territory.
After Bhutan acted to flush out insurgents from camps on its soil, Delhi
had again urged Dhaka to cooperate in closing down rebel training centres.
Officials acknowledge that they've been increasingly frustrated at Dhaka's
official response.
In a statement a week after the
arms haul, the Bangladesh mission in Delhi had said: "When asked to comment,
a spokesman of the ministry of foreign affairs said that all details relating
to the recent haul of a large amount of arms in Chittagong are being dealt
with in an effective manner" by the Bangladeshi home ministry.
An example of the "effective manner"
was to appoint the O-C of the local 'thana', who initially supervised the
off-loading of the weapons, as the investigating officer!
According to agency reports, Mr
Chowdhury claimed that the Indian secessionists were running 50-60 training
camps in the CHT and the weapons were brought in to arm them under "a sinister
conspiracy to create unrest in the sub-continent," according to the independent
English-language newspaper Daily Star.
