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Bangladesh
Police arrest two ex-NSI DGs in arms haul, sent to Ctg
2009-05-17
CID police on Saturday arrested two former chiefs of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) for their alleged involvement in a arms haul suspected linked to Indian separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), official sources said.(BSS, Dhaka)

"We have arrested (retired) major general Rezzakul Haidar Chowdhury and (retd) brigadier general Abdur Rahim for their involvement in the country's biggest arms haul at Chitagong in 2004," a top official of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police told BSS. "The two former generals were arrested from their Dhanmondi and Baridhara new DOHS residences respectively in the early hours of today following the confessional statement of retired wing commander and former director of NSI Shahbuddin."
Are we sure they weren't actually agents of the ISI? Everyone else seems to be these days.
A senior official of the CID told BSS that a strong contingent of CID police led by ASP Ismail Hossain, a former Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, cordoned off the residence of major general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury at Dhanmondi residential area after midnight of Friday. While Mohammad Moniruzzaman, another ASP of CID currently the IO of the case, cordoned off the 6/c Baridhara new DOHS residence of brigadier Rahim almost at the same time.

Both the officers arrested the former generals within two to three hours and finally brought to the CID headquarters at Malibagh at about 4 am. They were taken to two separate rooms located on the third floor of the CID building and interrogated them thoroughly. Special security measures were taken to the CID headquarters despite holiday.

After the initial interrogation, both the generals were sent to Chittagong under heavy police guard, the scene of the weapon haul where security forces had seized 10 trucks of weapons, believed to be destined to ULFA hideouts in north-eastern India five years ago.
Five years? Isn't that an awfully long transit time?
Rahim was the NSI chief during the seizure of the weapons while Haidar succeeded him as both served as the top boss of the main intelligence agency during the past BNP-led four-party rule. The name of both the generals were mentioned as the 'mastermind' of the country's biggest arms haul in the confessional statements of Shahabuddin Ahmed.

Chowdhury, however, was removed and sent to forced retirement after the proclamation of the state of emergency on January 11, 2007.

Police sources said, the arrested NSI officials allegedly played a key role alongside some police officials in the planned transportation of the weapons from the port city to Assam but the case was shelved for years after the apparently "accidental" seizure of the weapons. The past government of chief adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed ordered a reinvestigation last year amid allegations that there was a deliberate attempt on the part of the then BNP administration to suppress facts to weaken it.
Oh. The arms were seized five years ago, but the the two generals were just re-arrested... I think.
The 10 truck loads of weapons included over 27,000 grenades, 150 rocket launchers, over 11 lakh ammunitions and 1,100 sub machine guns were unloaded at a government jetty on April 2004 but seized by security agencies despite the alleged involvement of several police and intelligence officials in the smuggling bid.

Investigators earlier said two other major accused indicated involvement of political bigwigs in the weapon deal five years after the seizure as they so far questioned 26 navy officials, who were serving at that time in Coastguard on deputation along with several other witnesses.

"We have got the leads from confessional statements (of the suspects) that the weapon consignment was meant for ULFA," public prosecutor Kamal Uddin told newsmen earlier this year. The ULFA reportedly had planned to smuggle in the weapons using the Bangladesh territory earlier at a Bangkok Hotel.
Posted by:Pappy

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