Notorious criminals have been using Chittagong and its adjoining areas as major points for smuggling illegal arms. They are using the sea-route as well as land borders for this purpose. On Wednesday night, the police recovered an AK-22, eight cartridges and two magazines from Moijjartek in the Karnaphuli thana area. However, no one has been arrested yet. Sources said a person carrying a school bag had got off at Mojjartek from a bus coming from Cox’s Bazar at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday. He, however, ran away on seeing police personnel at a nearby check-post and left his bag on the road. An AK-22 was found inside the bag. According to eyewitnesses, the police did little to catch the person as he boarded another passenger bus right under the nose of the law enforcers. CMP commissioner Shafiqul Islam confirmed the news.
CMP additional commissioner Bonoj Kumar Majumdar said: “We’ve recovered an AK-22 for the first time. This is the most modern version of AK-47 and is used in field battles. We’re searching for the owner of the gun. We’re also trying to trace the route through which the gun reached the port city.”
According to sources, Rohingya and Arakanese people are mainly involved in arms smuggling. Around 60 km of open border area at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar is one of the main routes for these activities.
Different smuggling syndicates maintain several offices in Chittagong, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Cox’s Bazar and Dhaka to keep contact with their buyers, including underword dons and terrorist outfits. Of late, their activities have increased alarmingly in Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar districts.
Sources said illegal arms were available in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Rangamati.
Law enforcement agencies are conducting drives to recover illegal firearms and catch criminals. The police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have seized a huge quantity of illegal firearms from different spots in Greater Chittagong.
Law enforcement agencies suspect that terrorists are storing illegal arms in the offshore islands of Maheshkhali and Kutubdia. In fact, a modern firearms manufacturing factory was found in the hilly terrains of Maheshkhali island. The police have also intensified their drives in remote areas of Cox’s Bazar.
Sources said militants had set up several camps in the hilly areas for arms training. Several Rohingya organisations are involved in arms smuggling in these areas, they added.
Recently, the home ministry ordered law enforcement agencies to prepare and update a report on the routes through which illegal arms are being smuggled into Bangladesh. The police, RAB and the navy have started operations to unearth arms manufacturing factories on the offshore islands and in other parts of this region..
According to the sources, there are about 50,000 illegal firearms and a huge stock of ammunition in the possession of underworld elements of Chittagong. Most of these criminals thrive under political patronage. There are more than 50 arms manufacturing workshops in the Greater Chittagong area, including CHT and Cox’s Bazar.
-With The Independent input
