http://www.bangladeshobserveronline.com//new/2003/11/25/front.htm
Chittagong Bureau and Khagrachhari Correspondent
CHITTAGONG, Nov 24: - An infantry squad of the Bangladesh army has detected a hidden armory of hill rebels at the remote village of Korongatali under Khagrachari district early today and seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition usually used for military purposes.
Military men participated in the drive believed that the United Peoples Democratic Front (UDPF) might be the owner of the armory. United Peoples Democratic Front is the organisation of the hill people who did not support the Chittagong Hill Tract Peace Treaty. Supporters of the organisation have been carrying out insurgency against their own people in the hills since signing of the Peace Accord signed in December 1997.
Medium-range anti-aircraft machinegun, light machinegun (LMG), Sub-Machine Gun (SMG) long-range AK-47 rifles, long medium-range automatic automatic Chinese rifles, Self-loading rifles (SLR), portable sniper guns, bolt-action rifles, Machine Gun carriers, commando daggers, hand grenades, rocket launchers, medium-range walky-talky units and several thousand of live ammunition were among the seized weapons.
Military personnel staying in the CHT, for the first time traced such a big stockpile of heavy weapons from the hills since the hill people went on rebellion more than three decades ago. “They might have received supply of pure military hardware from the cross border rebels,” a military official commented preferring anonymity.
Many believed that the ongoing insurgency in the hills might have been worsening further if the infantrymen did not seize those arms and ammunition. More than thousand people were killed in the hill insurgencies over the last three decades.
Value of the attached weapons was estimated over Taka three crore. “It’s difficult to assess the value of each of the weapons because heavy weapons are not transacted in the civil market,” an arms expert said.
Detectives hinted that most of the ransom money extorted from the abductions took place in Chittagong region was spent for purchasing the heavy weapons from the agents across the border. Insurgent groups of the hills find abduction as the easiest way to accumulate funds for their operation.
“It can be a main reason of sudden upward trend of abductions in Chittagong region,” a senior police official who acquired adequate experience in the hills said.
A military spokesman said that they went on an ambush pursuing tips from their source and took the control of the armory successfully. Infantry Division 203 of Baghaihat had carried out the drive.
“The armory was unattended during the ambush,” the military spokesman said unless, he afraid, there would have been bloodshed. The raiders believed that the caretakers of the armory fled the spot sensing military presence.
According to the military hardware experts, most of the arms seized from the armory were made of Korea, China and Japan.
Commander of 203 Infantry Division in Khagrachari declined to make any comment before being sanguine about the users and suppliers of those heavy weapons.
Local commander of the 203 Infantry Division also put these areas and ammunition display for the media representatives. It could not be known immediately whether the arms and ammunition would be handed over to the police.
Police officials admitted that they heard about the haul of heavy arms and ammunition but did not involved themselves in the process. “We must not put our nose in the issue as an unwanted,” an officer of Khagrachari police station said on condition of anonymity.
BSS report adds:?The recovered arms are : one 7.62mm light machine gun with two magazines, one AK 47 rifle with two magazines, two 7.62mm Chinese 56 rifle, one 5.56mm automatic rifle, one 7.62 mm sniper rifle, one 7.62mm SLR, one 7.62mm bolt-action rifle with one magazine, two 7.62mm Chinese pistol and its magazine, one 7.62mm machinegun barrel and one commando knife.
The recovered ammunition are: 734 bullets of 7.62 mm machinegun, 834 bullets of 7.62 rifle, 1,406 bullets of 5.56mm rifle, 22 bullets of 7.62mm pistol and 14 hand grenade.
The army could not nab any terrorist as they left their den and disappeared in the forest sensing presence of the security forces nor could they identify the terrorist group involved with the cache.