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Cop in question to probe gunrunning

Fertiliser factory security men receive threats, OC denies involvement with smugglers

Staff Correspondent
The police officer at the heart of accusation of helping gunrunners in unloading the largest ever arms cargo on the Karnaphuli coast on Friday was tasked with a probe in what Chittagong residents called 'a
pernicious turn'.
Witnesses to the arms offloading at Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited jetty on Saturday accused Ahadur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli Police Station, of helping the gang in their act.
Residents of Chittagong
expressed despair as the news of his probe duty broke, and many of them said he might divert the focus of probe.
The ansars and security officers of the fertiliser factory yesterday told journalists that they were receiving
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threats for bringing to light what they said were the roles of the OC and his team.
"They have threatened us with framing in cases," an ansar member alleged.
Ahadur denied the allegations of colluding with the smugglers in offloading.
"With orders from higher authorities, I reached the jetty at 12:05am and saw a box being unloaded from a trawler."
"As the security men and ansars of the factory did not complain to us, we did not intervene immediately. But realising the importance of the matter, I informed my higher authorities of the developments."
Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) M Sabbir Ali yesterday also denied his force's involvement in the arms smuggling.
"We could bust the weapons because of police watch," he claimed at a press conference in his office.
Why police could not arrest any gunrunners who arrived in two trawlers despite the watch?
"We cannot engage in a war with them. What could only an OC, a sergeant and three to four personnel do with them?"
A few local residents with a history of small-time smuggling in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar said they had to enter into a deal with lawenforcers and local influentials to handle cargoes at any jetty.
"If a smuggler does not seal an agreement, they have to offload their goods under own guard with the risks of firefight with law-enforcers," one of them said.
"The unloading of such a huge deadly cargo on the factory jetty could not be possible without the exchange of gunshots if police were not involved."
Smugglers usually employ their own armed guards while handling cargoes such as television and VCR sets, another smuggler said.
"It's unbelievable that the gang was offloading the incredibly sophisticated cargo without security."
Asked why they did not inform the police immediately, Ansar Commander of the urea factory Kazi Abu Tayeeb said, "It's not our duty to inform the police. I informed my authorities instantly what I'm supposed to do."
"It's only for our quick initiative that the huge arms cache could be
busted," he said, adding they were now facing serious threats.
Police said they were yet to find out the 'real owners' of the trawlers used in the high-profile arms smuggling.
The arms and ammunition seized on Friday were 690 7.62 milimetre SMG-T-56-1, 600 7.62 millimetre
SMG T-56-2, 400 9 millimetre automatic carbine (model 320), 100 tommy automatic rifles, 150 40 millimetre rocket launcher T-69, 2000 Lancing Tubes (Ugo Rifles), 150 sight for 40 millimetre rocket launchers, 2792 magazines of SMG t-56-1, 2400
magazines of SMG T-56-2, 800
magazines of 9 millimetre automatic carbines, 400 magazines for tommy rifles, 400,000 7.25x25 ball pistol
bullets, 739,680 bullets of T-56 pistol, 840 40 millimetre rocket heads of T-69 launchers and 25,020 NV hand grenades.