'Huge weapons haul' in Bangladesh

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Police in Bangladesh say they have made their biggest seizure of illegal weapons in a haul that included AK-47 rifles, rocket launchers and grenades.

Ten lorries loaded with arms and ammunition were found in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong, the authorities say.

A home office minister said the cache was part of a conspiracy to destabilise the country.

An investigation is underway into the weapons and their likely destination.


India theory

Police acting on a tip-off found the arms being loaded into trucks from two boats on the river Karnaphuli.

Eight people were arrested.

Junior home minister Lutfozzaman Babor told the BBC the weapons were to be used inside Bangladesh as part of a "larger conspiracy" to destabilise the country.


However, a leading security expert, retired Brigadier Abdul Hafiz, said the weapons might have been destined for north-east India, where several groups are fighting Delhi's rule.

"Chittagong has a reputation of being used as a transit route for illegal arms," he said, but he added: "Whoever the recipient is, the national security of Bangladesh is involved."

This is not the first seizure of a large amount of weapons and ammunition in Bangladesh.



Last June, police recovered more than 100,000 rifle bullets and 150kg of explosives in the northern district of Bogra.
-BBC

[Edited on 2-4-2004 by rezwan1977]