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Bangladesh

ULFA threatens to blow up Bangladesh gas transmission line: report

2016-04-14

[Bangla New Age] The anti-talk faction of separatist outfit United Liberation Front of Asom Who? has threatened to blow up Bangladesh’s largest gas transmission pipeline, prompting authorities to order an intensified security vigil, a media report said on Wednesday citing an Indian intelligence tip-off, reports PTI. The Paresh Barua-led faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam recently issued the threat to blow up the transmission line of the Bibiyana gas field, which supplies 45 per cent of the gas. The article said Indian intelligence agencies recently unearthed the plot tapping a telephone conversation of Barua with an ULFA commander when he asked him to blow up the pipeline in Bangladesh. The 119 kilometre-long Bibiyana pipeline is Bangladesh’s largest transmission line that supplies gas to the national grid from the Bibiyana gas field in north-eastern Habiganj, bordering Assam to central Dhunat sub-district, operated by US oil giant Chevron. Officials of state-run Petrobangla, which contracts out the gas plants to foreign and local oil companies, said they received the information last week and took up the issue with government authorities concerned and cautioned Chevron. ’We have sought necessary government steps for the security of the gas line and cautioned Chevron to enforce an extra vigil on the Bibiyana’s production and transmission systems,’ Petrobangla director M Kamaruzzaman told PTI. He said Petrobangla and Chevron already held a meeting with the officials of the home ministry and security agencies concerned to ensure adequate security for the plant and the transmission line. A home ministry official said the law enforcement and security agencies were asked to take necessary steps in view of the reported threat, enhancing their vigil as the outfit has record of carrying out sabotages on Indian gas pipelines. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... officials said they were assessing its authenticity and capacity of the outfit’s ’remnants.’ Home minister Asaduzzaman Kamal expressed his doubt about the authenticity of the threat and capacity of the ULFA faction as most of their top leaders gave up their separatist campaign in view of their negotiations with the Indian government. ’I cannot tell you anything about the threat before we could fully verify it, but I am in doubt about the capacity of ULFA remnants in carrying out any sabotage in our country,’ Kamal said. He added that Bangladesh long ago drove out the ULFA from its borders with India, evicting their makeshift hideouts. ’Paresh Barua, however, is still on the run but we understand India has kept a watch on his activities and so have we, as he once secretly took refuge in Bangladesh,’ Kamal said. Barua was earlier handed down death penalty by a Bangladeshi court after in absentia trial for weapon trafficking through Bangladesh territory while media reports suggested he was currently hiding in Myanmar-China borders. He was given the death penalty by a south-eastern Chittagong court in 2014 along with 13 Bangladeshis including two former ministers, two ex-army generals and, after trial of the country’s biggest-ever weapon haul involving the separatist outfit.

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Bangladesh

BNP-led govt engaged security agencies to support separatist outfit in India

2014-01-30

[Bangla Daily Star] Though entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring country's security, brass hats of two security agencies, along with the then state minister for home and a civil servant, used their influence to supply weapons to an Indian separatist outfit in 2004. Law enforcers had seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition on April 2 that year at the jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL). The consignment was being loaded on trucks. Top officials of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) were involved in smuggling weapons for the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), a separatist group fighting for a sovereign Assam, according to confessional statements of the accused in the 10-truck arms haul cases. The officials allegedly rented a house in the capital for the most-wanted Ulfa military commander Paresh Barua and gave him protection to operate his outfit from inside Bangladesh during the BNP-Jamaat rule. They met frequently in Dhaka. Just two days before the arms haul, the then director (security) of NSI wing commander Shahabuddin Ahmed and DGFI director (Counter Intelligence Bureau) Brig Gen Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury held a meeting with Barua at the Combined Military Hospital to discuss the arrival of weapons and its off-loading. Shahabuddin was under treatment at the hospital. On April 1, 2004, NSI field officer Md Akbar Hossain went to Chittagong and hired trucks for carrying arms on instructions of Shahabuddin. Former NSI deputy director (technical) Maj Liakat Hossain was also in the port city to oversee the off-loading of arms and ensure security. Upon instructions of former director general of NSI Brig Gen Abdur Rahim, Liakat was present during the off-loading of the arms consignment. He took the pseudo-name Abul Hossain and was locked into a debate with police sergeant Alauddin over the nature of goods and its clearance, according to Liakat's statement before a magistrate. Rahim kept close contact with those who were supervising the off-loading of the consignment. Liakat called him over the phone and sought his help when cops obstructed the off-loading. Lutfozzaman Babar, who was running the home ministry, allegedly played a key role facilitating the off-loading and smuggling of the arms. When the smuggling was exposed, Babar tried to cover up the culprits by forming a probe committee that included Rezzakul Haider. Babar ignored resistance by the then DGFI DG Sadiq Hasan Rumi, who believed Haider had a role and wanted that another official replace Haider in the probe body. The committee led by former home secretary Omar Faruk found the involvement of some NSI officials in the incident. But when he wanted to mention this in the probe report, Babar asked him not to disclose the fact. Besides, two whistle-blower coppers Alauddin and Helaluddin were implicated in a false arms case, placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! and tortured by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in 2005. Alauddin, a key witness in the arms haul cases, later came to know that all these were done on instructions of Babar. The involvement of former additional secretary of the industries ministry Md Nurul Amin, who is now absconding, became clear after further investigation. He was at the CUFL guest house when the arms consignment was being off-loaded. Assistant security official of CUFL Mobin Hossain Khan in his testimony said he along with CUFL managing director Mohsin Uddin Talukder had received Nurul Amin at Chittagong Railway Station on the night of the arms haul. Several top CUFL officials, including its MD and general manager (admin) KM Enamul Haq, were also allegedly involved in the incident. Both were aware of the off-loading of arms at the jetty, but did not take any action. They even did not visit the scene or the factory the following day when the entire nation was stunned by the recovery of the largest-ever arms cache. Neither did they take any administrative action against the on-duty security staff. Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Ameer and the then industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... played a dubious role over using the CUFL jetty for off-loading arms and investigating the incident.

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Bangladesh

ISI in thick of things

2014-01-30

[Bangla Daily Star] Though earlier probes into the 10-truck arms haul cases found only some local smugglers and ordinary labourers involved in the smuggling of arms, further investigations in 2009 revealed that local and foreign intelligence agencies and an Indian separatist group had executed the smuggling plan. The names of some top politicians of the then BNP-led four-party alliance government, bureaucrats, Pak intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) came up during further probe into the cases. Several meetings were held at home and abroad before April 2, 2004, when a huge cache of arms and ammunition was seized at the jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL). Some accused in the two cases disclosed this during interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and making confessional statements in court, said Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, the latest investigation officer (IO) of the cases. Former National Security Intelligence (NSI) director wing commander Shahab Uddin, who is now behind bars, alleged that former NSI director general Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim had held several meetings with officials of ARY Group and the ISI at home and abroad. Though Shahab Uddin during interrogation at the TFI cell in Dhaka in early May in 2009 had spoken about the arms smuggling plan, in a confessional statement on May 15 that year, he tactfully avoided many facts. In the statement he did not mention the name of the ISI or any of its officials. Rather, he only referred to meetings with "foreigners". Rahim in his statement on May 27 in 2009 had mentioned the names of the ARY and ISI and spoken about holding meetings with the officials of the two organizations. He even admitted that he met ISI director general Lt Gen Ehsanul Hoque in London. But he did not give any hint about planning the smuggling in those meetings. Rather, he alleged that Shahab held a meeting with ISI officials to facilitate the arms smuggling. ISI, ULFA LINKS Shahab in his statement stated that the ISI had provided mobile monitoring equipment to the NSI as a gift. NSI DG Rahim had been to London to meet ISI officials to discuss the handing over of the device. In February 2004, the DG had given a briefcase to Shahab and told him to have it reach his residence. In it was the mobile monitoring equipment, mentioned Shahab. The DG earlier had received dollars from foreigners in such a briefcase, he added. On March 27 or 28, DG Rahim called some NSI directors, including Shahab, Didar and Enam. The DG told them that consignments for different embassies would arrive at different times and they needed to monitor it. According to Shahab, Rahim called him on March 30 and told him that some goods would be transported from Anwara to Haluaghat and it would be better if someone from the NSI accompanied it. On the other hand, Rahim in his statement complained that Shahab had developed close relations with ISI officials Brig Sapir Uddin and Col Shahed Mahmud, who had been serving at the Pakistain High Commission in Dhaka. The NSI had a fund of Tk2.50 crore for procuring mobile monitoring equipment in 2002. Shahab suggested purchasing the device from the ISI and talked to its officials in July 2002, claimed Rahim. In early 2003, the ISI handed over the device to the NSI and Rahim went to London to discuss the payment with ISI DG Lt Gen Ehsanul Hoque. At the meeting the ISI chief told Rahim that the device was a gift for the NSI from Pakistain. Rahim further alleged that in March 2004, Shahab tried to talk with him about ULFA leader Anup Chetia. As Rahim was indifferent to Shahab, he dropped the issue and told Rahim that they should help the ULFA. Infuriated at this proposal, Rahim questioned, "Shall we hand over Bangladesh to the ULFA?" Shahab in his statement said one Pak national named Amir bhai, who was later known to him as ULFA leader Paresh Barua, met him at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka at 7:00pm on March 30, 2004. Amir told Shahab that he had a meeting with the NSI DG. While seeing off Amir, Shahab could see from his cabin former DGFI director Brig Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury standing near the staircase. IO Moniruzzaman said though the two tried to accuse each other, many things became clear from their statements and it helped him in probing the cases.

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Bangladesh

Ulfa chief shot at in Myanmar

2011-09-11

[Bangla Daily Star] Paresh Barua, commander-in-chief of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), has been shot at in the jungles of northwest Myanmar, reports Indian television channel NDTV yesterday. The runaway Ulfa leader is wanted by a Bangladesh court for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 10 truckloads of arms in 2004. Sources said Barua has been injured but has survived the attack by the Myanmarese soldiers. He was with some rebels when he was detected and fired upon, they added. The Assamese separatist group Ulfa recently began face-to-face unconditional talks with the Indian government in an attempt to usher in peace in insurgency-hit Assam. Its delegation met the home minister in New Delhi in February. The meeting was significant as it took place for the first time in Ulfa's 31-year history. Its commander-in-chief and lone ranger Paresh Barua, however, was not present in the meeting. He is still on the lam issuing threats and carrying out attacks. He wants illusory sovereignty as a pre-condition for talks. The three decades of armed movement has witnessed the killing of several thousand civilians. The Ulfa, in a significant development earlier this year, admitted that all killings were wrong and declared that they were ready for formal unconditional talks with the government. ARMS SMUGGLING In Chittagong, a court on September 7 ordered the authorities concerned to publish an advertisement in two national dailies, asking Paresh Barua and another runaway, Nurul Amin, to appear before it by October 3. The court on June 29 issued an arrest warrant for Paresh Barua. Barua is among the 11 newly charge-sheeted accused in two cases filed in connection with the 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong in 2004. The 11 included former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... The arms produced in Chinese factory Norinco were to be transported to India for the Ulfa, Muniruzzaman Chowdhury, investigation officer of the two cases, told news hounds after submitting two supplementary charge sheets before the court on June 26. Two cases were filed--one for smuggling firearms and the other under the arms act--a day after 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition were seized at a jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd (CUFL) in the port city on April 2, 2004.resignation.

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India-Pakistan

ISI trained Ulfa

2011-08-11

[Bangla Daily Star] Top leader of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) Sashadhar Choudhury has said Pakistain's ISI trained the bad turban outfit while individuals from various Bangladeshi agencies gave logistics support. "Pakistain's ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] trained Ulfa. In 1991, I was part of the first batch of Ulfa members to go to Pakistain for training in small arms including main battle rifles," Choudhury said in an interview to The Times of India published on Tuesday. Choudhury, who joined the Ulfa in 1985, is now a member of the Ulfa delegation preparing to hold peace talks with the Indian government. "I had a Bangladeshi national ID card issued by its army, and passports of several countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Fiji and South Africa," he said. But when contacted, officials of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) rejected the statement, saying the army did not issue any ID card to anybody as it does not have the authority to do so. "Army only provided some technical support to a government project on national ID card. That doesn't mean that army men had issued the ID cards," an ISPR official told The Daily Star yesterday on condition of anonymity. The Times of India quoted Sashadhar as saying that he had lived in Bangladesh with his wife and daughter for 12 years until his arrest in November 2009. "I lived in Bangladesh as Rafiqul Islam. My wife Runima, a member of Ulfa's cultural wing, assumed the name Sabina Yasmin," said Choudhury, who lived in a rented house at Uttara Sector-3. Choudhury and Runima got married in Bangladesh in 1997 and settled down. Their 10-year-old daughter studied in Dhaka's International Turkish Hope School. Ulfa leaders, their wives and children assumed Islamic names and lived a life of disguise in Bangladesh until Sheikh Hasina-led government came to power in 2009, he added. In 1992, he was chosen as Ulfa's "foreign secretary" by the outfit's general council. "Soon after joining, we had trained with the Nagas of the undivided NSCN. In 1988, we were the second batch of Ulfa who went over to Kachin in Myanmar. We fought along with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) for two years and shared their guns," he said. Later, as Ulfa's financial resources improved, it began buying weapons. The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is a Naga nationalist hard boy group operating in northeast India. Its aim is to establish a Christian socialist state in the areas inhabited by the Naga people in northeast India and Burma. The Ulfa leader said, "The Chinese sold Ulfa weapons, but indirectly. They are not fools to train gunnies or get directly involved." The worst ordeal, Choudhury said, was during Operation Goldenbird in 1995, a joint anti-insurgent military offensive launched by India and Myanmar. "I was the golden bird they were looking for. For nine days, I fought without food or water in the jungles of Myanmar's Chin which was an unknown terrain for us," he claimed. But the Indian Army managed to capture him in northeastern Indian state of Mizoram. "But they did not know they had caught Shashadhar Choudhury. For two-and-a-half months in army custody, they only asked me where is Shasha? But I managed to protect myself saying I was Sailen Choudhury," he said. Sailen Choudhury was an Ulfa member who had been killed in that operation. Later, he was taken away from army custody, produced in a court and sent to jail. He struck a deal with then Assam government by offering to build bridges between Ulfa and the government in return for his release. But, soon after he was released, he obtained bail and decamped to Bhutan. "It was for survival," he said. Ulfa received the worst blow during Royal Bhutan Army's operation "All clear" in 2003. A large number of its members were killed or went missing. "After this, we shifted our headquarters to Bangladesh and then to Myanmar," he said. PARESH BARUA REFUTES MEDIA REPORTS Meanwhile, ...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38... Paresh Barua, Ulfa commander-in-chief, described as "not true" media reports quoting Ulfa Chairman Arabindo Rajkhowa as saying that his outfit procured weapons with the help of the Pakistain government and ISI. "This allegation is completely baseless and such reports have been made with a purpose. It is nothing new that such malicious publicity is given to Ulfa but this time Chairman Rajkhowa has been quoted," Baruah said in an email to the media. "We challenge those making such claims to prove with direct or indirect evidence that we took weapons and other help from Pak fundamentalists or ISI," he said.

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Bangladesh

Ulfa acted on its own

2011-08-09

[Bangla Daily Star] Top leaders of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) slipped to Bangladesh after their lives came under threat in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Arabinda Rajkhowa, chairman of the separatist group, told an Indian English daily. "When lives are in danger, it is natural recourse to seek refuge.... No government invited us, we went on our own and established bases," Rajkhowa said when asked why he sought refuge in Bangladesh. It really improves housing values when thoughtful, considerate terrorists squat in the house next door... The Ulfa used Bangladesh as a corridor to smuggle firearms into Assam, the 57-year-old separatist leader said in an interview with the Hindustan Times on August 5. For the first time, Rajkhowa admitted that Pak fundamentalists had long been backing them. Quelle surprise! However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Ulfa Vice-Chairman Pradip Gogoi yesterday denied the media reports about Ulfa being backed by Pak fundamentalists, reports our correspondent from New Delhi. "These reports are false. Our chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa did not say any such thing. "It was just a robot that looked and sounded exactly like him. Our Pakistani masters will prove it was a clever Hinjoo plot involving the Mossad, RAW and the CIA, just you wait." The question of being influenced by fundamentalists does not arise," said the Ulfa second-in-command. Rajkhowa told the Hindustan Times that sophisticated weapons were being brought in ships to Bangladesh and then transported inland in trucks. "One big consignment was caught in Chittagong, many ships were captured and in one case an entire shipload of arms was dumped into the sea to evade seizure. But many made it through," Rajkhowa said. "Ironically, the seized weapons are being used by the elite Rapid Action Battalion of Bangladesh (Rab) now, the same force that nabbed me." Sometimes there is justice in the world. According to Indian newspapers, Rab captured the Ulfa chief in Bangladesh on November 30, 2009. He was later handed over to Indian security agencies. In 1979, Rajkhowa and his associates formed the Ulfa at Rang Ghar in Sivasagar, to start an armed rebellion for Assam's independence. Since then, the conflict has claimed more than 12,000 lives. And not achieved independence. Perhaps the next generation should seek a different path. .

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India-Pakistan

Ulfa declares ceasefire

2011-07-13

[Bangla Daily Star] One of India's oldest rebel groups announced a unilateral ceasefire yesterday to push forward formal peace talks aimed at ending three decades of insurgency in the northeast state of Assam. The United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), the largest separatist outfit in the region, has been fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic Assamese since 1979. The insurgency has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives. "The Ulfa, with a view to exploring a lasting peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict, resolves to cease all forms of armed campaign for an indefinite period," Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said in an e-mailed statement received by AFP. Rajkhowa and several other top Ulfa leaders had been released from prison on bail in December 2010, after which they held several rounds of informal peace talks with New Delhi's chief negotiator PC Haldar. They also held a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister PC Chidambaram earlier this year. The only hold-out to the peace talks is the Ulfa's commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be hiding with around 100 armed cadres somewhere along the Myanmar-China border. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi welcomed the ceasefire declaration, and appealed to Baruah to join the grinding of the peace processor. "But we cannot wait indefinitely for him to come in, and if his faction tries to create some problems then action will be taken against them," Gogoi said.

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Bangladesh

Babar, Nizami among 11 new accused

2011-06-27

[Bangla Daily Star] Charges have been pressed against 11 new suspects including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ... a Pakistani catspaw remaining active in Bangla politix, loosely affiliated with the Pak religious party of the same name and closely affiliated with most of the terror organizations in Bangla. A member of the BNP's four party governing coalition.... chief Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them... in two cases filed in connection with the 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong in 2004. The arms produced in Chinese factory Norinco were to be transported to India for Assamese separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), Muniruzzaman Chowdhury, investigation officer of the two cases, told news hounds yesterday after submitting two supplementary charge sheets. Muniruzzaman, senior assistant superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department, handed over the charge sheets to Md Mainuddin, assistant commissioner (Prosecution) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, at the latter's office at about 5:30pm. Two cases were filed -- one for smuggling firearms and the other under the arms act -- a day after ten truckloads of arms and ammunitions were seized at a jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) in the port city on April 2, 2004. Mainuddin said the supplementary charge sheets would be sent to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court. In 2004, Sherlocks submitted charge sheets against 45 people in the case filed for smuggling of firearms and 43 people in the other case filed under the arms act. Four people, who were accused in both the cases, have died. In a memorandum of evidence to Public Prosecutor (PP) Kamal Uddin Ahmed on June 3 this year, the CID mentioned the names of 11 new accused. Apart from Babar and Nizami, Ulfa leader Paresh Barua, former director general of National Security Intelligence (NSI) Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim, the then director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury, who was later appointed as the DG of NSI, are on both the charge sheets. The others are former NSI director wing commander (retd) Shahab Uddin, ex-NSI deputy director Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain, ex-NSI field officer Akbar Hossain Khan, former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin, ex-CUFL managing director Mohsin Talukder and former CUFL general manager (admin) Enamul Hoque. All 11 new suspects except Ulfa leader Paresh, and Nurul Amin are in prison, said the investigator. The names of the 11 suspects were added to the previous list of accused in the two cases. Of the 11 accused, six have already given eight statements, he said. The charge sheets mentioned 265 names as important witnesses including police officials, magistrates, former officials of NSI and DGFI, and former secretaries of different ministries. SUPPLEMENTARY CHARGE SHEETS The supplementary charge sheets said prime accused Hafizur Rahman with the help of other accused smuggled in the huge cache of arms in two fishing trawlers -- Amanat and FB Khazardan. The arms were being unloaded at a CUFL jetty in Chittagong in the early hours of April 2, 2004. When havildar Golum Rasul of Bandar police outpost was tipped off that huge cartons were being loaded onto trucks from two trawlers, he informed sergeant Md Alauddin, the then outpost in-charge, about it. Alauddin conveyed it to Abdullahel Baki, the then deputy commissioner (DC) of port zone. Baki sent Sergeant Helal Uddin Bhuiyan and Ahadur Rahman of Karnaphuli Police Station to the spot to look into it. When the coppers reached the spot, two persons identifying themselves as Hafizur Rahman and Abul Hossain claimed ownership of the goods. The person who identified himself as Abul Hossain was actually the then NSI deputy director Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain. Police seized the huge cache of arms and ammunition, and loaded those onto ten trucks. The then officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli Police Station filed two cases -- one under the arms act and the other for smuggling arms -- with the same cop shoppe against 43 people the next day. The CID took charge of investigation into the two cases after IO Ahadur Rahman was relieved of the task for his controversial probe in less than a month. Kabir Uddin Ahmed, ASP of CID (Chittagong zone), was appointed the IO, who submitted a report on June 11, 2004 accusing 42 people in the case filed under the arms act. ASP Nawshad Ali was later appointed the third IO, who submitted a supplementary charge sheet in the same case on August 28 the same year. He added one more name to the list of 42 accused. He also probed the arms smuggling case and submitted the charge sheet in November accusing 45 people. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court on February 14, 2008 ordered further investigation into the cases following an appeal by the then PP Ahsanul Haque Hena during the tenure of the last caretaker government. The court gave directives to probe seven specific points that the previous Sherlocks had not addressed. ASP of CID Ismail Hossain probed the cases further as the fourth IO for nearly 11 months but failed to submit probe report despite obtaining six extensions. A Chittagong court on January 18, 2009 gave an order to replace Ismail Hossain following an appeal by the state lawyer. ASP Muniruzzaman was appointed the fifth investigation officer, who started a fresh probe into the cases on February 4 in 2009. He obtained confessional statements of two prime accused -- Hafizur Rahman and Din Mohammad -- who gave information about the involvement of some government and intelligence officials in the arms smuggling. The IO submitted the probe report yesterday after 13 extensions. Muniruzzaman said the government did not put "any pressure" on him while carrying out the investigation. The charge sheets are based on the findings, he said.

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India-Pakistan

Bomb Defused on Indian Train Carrying 1,000 People

2011-06-18

[An Nahar] Indian security forces defused a powerful bomb found on a train carrying about 1,000 passengers in the northeastern state of Assam on Friday, a police official told Agence La Belle France Presse. "Security forces were conducting a routine search when they found an unattended small but heavy bag and on suspicion they checked and detected the bomb neatly concealed," Assam's inspector general Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta said. The bomb was found in the early hours Friday just before the train pulled into the state capital Guwahati. "It was an improvised bomb weighing about 5 kilograms and fitted with a timer. It was a powerful bomb," Mahanta said. All passengers were evacuated immediately, before bomb disposal experts disabled the device. At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the tea- and oil-rich region of Assam due to fighting between government forces and rebel groups demanding independence from India. Earlier this year, one of the strongest rebel groups, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) announced it would join peace talks in a move to end a 31-year-old insurgency. No-one grabbed credit for Friday's attempted kaboom, but officials told AFP they suspected the involvement of a local cut-thoat group opposed to ongoing negotiations. India has been wracked by separatist conflicts since its independence in 1947, with deadly insurgencies in its northwestern Kashmire region and the northeast.

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Bangladesh

Babar, Nizami named accused

2011-06-04

[Bangla Daily Star] Further investigation in sensational 10-truck arms haul cases has apparently come to an end after three and a half years and 13 time extensions. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) showed 11 new accused including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and former minister for commerce and industries Matiur Rahman Nizami in the memorandum of evidence (ME) of the cases. The other new accused are India's United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) leader Paresh Barua, former director general (DG) of National Security Intelligence (NSI) Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim, the then director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, who was later appointed as DG of NSI, former NSI director Wing Commander (retd) Shahab Uddin, former deputy director of NSI Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain, former NSI field officer Akbar Hossain Khan, former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin, former managing director (MD) of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) Mohsin Talukder and former CUFL general manager (admin) Enamul Hoque. Of the accused, Ulfa leader Paresh Barua and additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin are absconding. CID hopes to submit the probe report with in the given timeframe, June 29, as it has prepared an initial ME of the cases. The investigation officer (IO) of the cases Md Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, also a senior assistant superintendent of police (ASP) for CID, on Thursday submitted the primary ME to Public Prosecutor (PP) Kamal Uddin Ahmed for his review. CID officials said names of the 11 accused were included with 41 other who were accused in the two previous charge sheets submitted by CID earlier in 2004. Talking to The Daily Star yesterday IO Moniruzzaman said they have almost completed the investigation. He hoped to submit his probe report after the PP approves the ME. Sources in CID said names of over 200 people including police officials, a magistrate, former officials of NSI, DGFI, and former secretaries of different ministries have been mentioned in the ME as important witness. They said CID has so far solved six out of seven issues that a Chittagong court directed to solve during the further investigation. The unsolved issue is identifying the vessel that transported the consignment. PP Kamal Uddin has confirmed receiving the ME and said he would return it to CID with his opinion after analysing legal aspects. On April 3, 2004, two cases -- one under arms act and one for smuggling of arms -- were filed with Karnaphuli Police Station against 43 people in connection with the arms and ammunition recovery at CUFL jetty. Names of two accused were later dropped from the charge sheet as they died. CID started investigating the cases after the first IO of the cases Ahadur Rahman, also the then officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli Police Station, was dropped within less than a month for his controversial investigation. Kabir Uddin Ahmed, Chittagong zone ASP of CID, was then appointed the next IO who submitted his report on June 11, 2004. ASP Nawshad Ali was later appointed as the third IO and he submitted a supplementary charge sheet on August 28 of the same year. On February 12, 2008, during the tenure of the last caretaker government, the court of Metropolitan Session Judge ANM Bashirullan ordered further investigation in the cases following an appeal by the then PP Ahsanul Haque Hena. The court in its order directed to investigate seven specific points in the further investigation. ASP of CID Ismail Hossain carried the further investigation as the fourth IO of the cases but he failed to submit his probe report even after six time extensions. On January 18, 2009 a Chittagong court ordered to replace Ismail Hossain following an appeal by the state lawyer and ASP Moniruzzaman was appointed as the fifth IO. It was alleged that the previous investigations were not done seriously and the charge sheets were prepared poorly without accusing the criminal masterminds.

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India-Pakistan

Ulfa faction threatens Congress of armed strike

2011-02-20

[Bangla Daily Star] The anti-dialogue faction of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) led by its runaway commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah has threatened to launch an armed strike against the ruling Congress in the state for splitting the outfit. In a statement emailed to the TOI, the outfit also warned the people to stay away from election meetings of the Congress. The assembly elections in the state are due in April. "We will protest with arms against the Congress for its divide and rule policy adopted with our outfit. So we appeal the people to keep a safe distance from the Congress meetings. We do not want to harm the people and so this appeal is to alert them against our armed protest very soon," the statement sent by Ulfa's publicity wing member self styled lieutenant Arunodoy Dohotia stated.

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India-Pakistan

Ulfa softens on independence

2011-01-04

[Bangla Daily Star] A top Death Eater group fighting Indian forces in the country's remote northeast for almost three decades has dropped its demand for independence in talks with New Delhi, softening its stand in an insurgency that has killed thousands of people. The United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) is one of the deadliest separatist groups in the northeast, and progress in resolving the insurgency, which has been a drain on resources, would boost New Delhi in a region rich in oil and tea. Arabinda Rajkhowa, also known as Rajib Rajkonwar, chairman of Ulfa, said on Sunday his group was for the first time willing to talk to the Indian government without condition.

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