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10-truck arms haul cases at final stage

Verdict date likely today

STAFF CORRESPONDENT, Ctg
A Chittagong special tribunal could today set the date for the verdict delivery in the sensational 10-truck arms haul cases of2004.
Former BNP state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, former industries minister, war crimes accused and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and a few high-ranking intelligence agency and government officials are accused in the cases.
A huge quantity of arms and ammunition, reportedly meant for Indian separatist organisation Ulfa, was captured at the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd jetty in Chittagong on April 2, 2004, when they were being loaded on to 10 trucks.
Two cases, an arms case and a smuggling case, were filed with Karnaphuli Police Station the following day.
Yesterday, prosecutor Kamal Uddin Ahmed finished his closing arguments before the tribunal conducting the "sum-mar}' procedure". The prosecutor said he would submit before the court detailed arguments in writing in two days since the tribunal rules did not allow closing arguments.
The Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 said the court allowed the closing argument to maintain the tradition of court proceedings and ordered defence lawyers to complete their arguments by today and submit the elaborate arguments in writing before the court within two days.
Following the court proceedings, prosecutor Kamal told The Daily Star the nation at last would see the end of a prolonged trial.
While placing his arguments yesterday, he said high-ups of the then BNP-led four-party alliance government had been actively involved in smuggling and unloading of the huge cache of arms and ammunition.
They used some officials of two intelligence agencies -- National Security Intelligence and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence -- to do the job smoothly, Kamal stated.
He said Babar had instructed the members of a five-member probe body, formed by the then home ministry after the arms haul, to conceal information about the involvement of NSI and DGFI officials.
Kamal claimed that the CUFL jetty was chosen since the fertiliser factory was under the then industries minister Nizami, who was pro-Pakistan and maintained an antagonistic stance against India, the country that extended support during our Liberation War.
At one stage, tribunal Judge SM Mojibur Rahman asked whether the accused government officials simply carried out orders.
The prosecution responded by saying that no honest government official was bound to carry out any illegal orders of the government.
Stating that the then BNP-led government had misled the investigation, the prosecutor added that a charge sheet accusing some labourers, truck drivers and captains of trawlers was submitted within two months of the arms haul.
In 2008, a Chittagong court ordered further investigation into the cases, and during that investigation involvement of the influential people was discovered, said Kamal.
Referring to the confessional statement of prime accused Hafizur Rahman, a local smuggler, he said Hafizur in his confessional statement mentioned direct involvement of Hawa Bhaban (the so-called alternative power house of the then BNP-led government), officials of NSI, DGFI, and Ulfa leader Paresh Barua in the smuggling.