& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Local smuggler spilled the beans

Dwaipayan Barua, ctg
The investigation into the 10-truck arms and ammunition haul at CUFL jetty on April 2, 2004 picked up momentum in 2009, when one of the prime accused in the case Hafizur Rahman divulged some startling facts.
Known as a local smuggler, Hafizur helped in unloading the arms from a ship in the Bay and hired trucks for the consignment.
In his 10-page confessional statement before a Chittagong court on March 2, 2009, Hafizur gave detailed descriptions of the consignment's transport plan, how it got to Chittagong and involvement of bigwigs of the then BNP-led four-party government and intelligence agencies.
His confession helped the latest (5th) investigation officer of the case, GID Senior ASP Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, pick up a new lead and prepare supplementary charge sheets against 11 important persons, including former ministers Babar and Nizami, in June 2011.
In the statement, Hafizur claimed to have given the same information to previous investigators since his surrender on October 26, 2005, but those were never recorded.
According to his statement, Hafizur being a Jatiya Party (JP) activist was known to Azmal Huda Mithu, former president of JP's cultural wing Jatiya Sangskritik Party.
A month before the 2001 parliamentary elections, JP leader Golam Faruq Obhi introduced Hafizur with a person named "Zaman" at Mithu's house in the capital's Banani.
"Obhi told Zaman that he [Zaman] could take help from me to unload goods in Chittagong," Hafizur said in his statement, adding that he later came to know that Zaman was actually military wing commander of I Ufa, Paresh Barua.
Zaman maintained contact with Hafizur and several weeks after they had met, he asked Hafizur to see him in Dhaka. Hafizur met Zaman and Obhi at a fast food restaurant where Zaman sought help for unloading some imported goods in Chittagong.
In the mean time, Zaman helped Hafizur financially in his ailing business.
Hafizur came to know about Zaman's real identity when one day he saw a 10-year-old girl with him and later learnt that she was daughter of Ulfa leader Anup Chetia. Zaman (Paresh) told him that the intelligence of Bangladesh had assured them of safety and shelter.
On March 23 or 24 in 2004, Paresh called Hafizur to urgently have some machinery transported form a ship near St Martin's Island.
When Hafizur asked him about permission from the Bangladesh Navy, coastguard, and customs and jetty authorities, Paresh told him not to worry about that.
"Paresh said the NSI and DGFI chiefs had made all arrangements while the CUFL jetty authorities already granted permission; so, no one would arrest me,"
said Hafizur in the statement.
Paresh gave him Tk 50 lakh in four packets and introduced him with a man named Asif in Dhaka.
With Asif, Hafizur went to Chittagong by his car and left Asif at a hotel. He then hired two trawlers from one Hazi Sobhan with Tk 12 to 13 lakh.
In the evening of March 29, when they reached St Martin's Island by trawlers, Hafizur and Asif found a vessel anchored there. As Paresh instructed, Asif talked to the captain of the ship in English through a loudspeaker. The two exchanged some code numbers and then Asif asked to anchor the trawlers next to the vessel.
According to Hafizur's statement, it took 14 hours to unload by crane so many wooden boxes from the ship.
Over the phone, Hafizur told Asif to berth the trawlers at CUFL jetty, as it was difficult to moor the trawlers in the dark. Coastguard vessels provided light to help the trawlers berth. Seven trucks and a crane were also hired to carry the boxes. To allay any fear, Paresh assured them of protection from the coastguard.
But two sergeants - Alauddin and Helal Uddin - appeared at the scene in uniform when unloading of goods from three trucks had already been done.
Asked, Hafizur told the sergeants that the goods belonged to the government. But the cops challenged alleging that the goods had been smuggled from Myanmar. They were locked into an altercation.
On Paresh's instructions, one Jewel told the cops that the goods were arms for Ulfa, a separatist group of India, and they were unloading those upon government permission.
Hafizur stated that only then he came to know about the arms and instantly phoned Paresh out of panic. Paresh told him that he would call the NSI and DGFI chiefs and take care of the situation.
But by 11:00pm, officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli Police Station appeared on the spot with a huge force of police.
"I then left for home walking along the river," confessed Hafizur, adding that Paresh later advised him to stay in hiding.
Hafizur was arrested when he surrendered before the High Court on October 26, 2005.