A court yesterday heard two prosecution witnesses including a police constable in the sensational 10 truckloads of arms haul case and declared one of them 'hostile' for giving 'irrelevant' and 'confusing' information.

Constable Golam Rasul of Karnaphuli Police Station and shopkeeper Nurul Alam Sawdagar, two of 102 witnesses, gave their deposition before Judge AKM Anwar Hossain of the Court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge.

The court has fixed September 7 as the next date for hearing.

Police on the night of April 1 last year seized 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition from Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) jetty.

The court after hearing Alam declared him 'hostile', as he during cross-examinations expressed his ignorance about the arms smuggling, court sources said.

Constable Rasul informed the court he knew nothing about the arms smuggling and unloading, though he was present on the scene that night.

Rasul said he received an anonymous telephone call at around 12:20am and informed on-duty Sergeant Alauddin about the incident.

"At around 12:55am, up to 25 unidentified people arrived at the jetty when the arms and ammunition were being unloaded.

But Sgt Alauddin neither tried to arrest anyone nor fired a blank shot," Rasul said, adding, "No-one of the accused made any attempt to jump on the water or flee the spot."

Two cases were filed in connection with the arms haul.

Police filed charges of the first case on June 11 (received on June 13) last year, accusing 39 people. But the number of accused in the first information report and the charge sheet differed.

Following a court order, a supplementary charge sheet was submitted on August 26 where the number of accused was raised to 43, and another person was included in the list later.

Seven of the 44 are now behind bars and 24 are out on bail. Thirteen accused including the three masterminds -- Hafizur Rahman, Din Mohammad and Abul Kashem Madhu -- are absconding.