Former military generals believe the 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition seized in Chittagong on Friday were destined for a third country and Bangladesh was used only as a transit route.

They expressed grave concern at the trafficking of such a huge consignment of illegal arms and ammunition through Bangladesh, which can be used to fight a regular army and suggested border vigilance be shored up.

Major General (retd) Mainul Hossain Chowdhury said no terrorist group in Bangladesh has ever used rocket launchers except for a

few that the Shantibahini might have used during the decades-long bush war in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

"Local insurgents like the Sarbaharas in the south-western region are known for their style of using homemade weapons like pipe guns and dao (machete). I don't think they would be using rocket launchers," said Mainul.

The former advisor to the caretaker government said, "It is a million-dollar question whether the consignment was brought in for use in Bangladesh or the country was used just as a transit route."

Mainul recalled that explosives,

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not sophisticated arms, were mainly used in some of the deadly subversive activities in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Jessore in recent years.

The ex-general said he was surprised that none of the people directly involved with the arms-trafficking was arrested and wondered when the stake was so big, as the arms and ammunition were worth millions of dollars, 'how could things remain so unattended with the joint forces failing to nab anyone'.

Brigadier General (retd) Shahidul Anam Khan also thinks the consignment was not destined for Bangladesh. He reasoned there is no such organised clandestine group in the country capable of bringing in, managing and storing such a huge volume of arms and ammunition.

No terrorist group would bring such huge numbers of sophisticated offensive weapons for use inside Bangladesh, observed Khan, adding that the weapons retrieved are generally used in classical wars against regular army.

He said local terrorists are highly unlikely to use rocket launchers, which are anti-tank weapons which were hardly used, if ever, during the war between Shantibahini and the army in the CHT.

Shahidul said bombs were exploded in some of the recent deadly incidents in Bangladesh such as the ones at Udichi function in Jessore and New Year's celebrations at Ramna Green in the capital, but rockets or AK-47 rifles or Uzi submachine guns were never used.

The specifications and volumes of the seized arms suggest these were to be used against a regular military force and point to the involvement of a big racket, said Shahidul. He suspected the consignment might have been on its way to the Maoist rebels in Nepal or separatists in northeastern India.

Shahidul argued even if the consignment was heading for a third country, it would still pose a serious threat to regional peace. "There is always a risk of certain portions of arms consignment being smuggled out in the local market."

He felt the government should seek help from international intelligence agencies to track down the arms traffickers and mount check along the porous border. He noted Chittagong-Maheshkhali range had long been used as a transit route for illegal arms business.

Major General (retd) Shubid Ali Bhuiyan said the retrieved arms and ammunition are almost equivalent to the ones of Comilla Division of Bangladesh Army. "A regular battle

could be fought with such amount of arms and ammunition," he said.

He suspected Bangladesh was used as a transit for supply of the arms. "... There is no big underground party in Bangladesh which could bring in such a huge consignment of arms. I am very concerned that if Bangladesh is continuously used as an illegal arms supply route, our independence will be at stake."

He dismissed the notion that Awami League's April 30 deadline for the fall of the government had something to do with the recovery of the arms cache.