CHITTAGONG, Feb 4 (BSS): The Chittagong court that delivered the verdict of 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition seized in Chittagong in 2004 expressed surprise that high intelligence officials of the country had close contact with ULFA leaders to make stronger the Indian separatist group.
The observation came in the full text of the verdict in two cases filed in connection with the April 2, 2004 arms haul in Chittagong.
The Judge SM Mojibur Rahman of the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court and Special Tribunal-1 released more than 500 pages containing full verdicts of the two cases under the Special Powers Act and the Arms Act Tuesday.
The court on Jan 30, awarded death sentences to 14 persons including Jamaat-e- Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, former State Minister for Home Lutfozzaman Babar, ULFA's military wing chief Paresh Barua and two former chiefs of NSI and DGFI in the smuggling case.
The court in its observation said that most of the defendants, either government or military officials knew everything but they did nothing to stop such a huge crime.
"Officials of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and National Security Intelligence (NSI) bothered least for the Bangladesh's relation with the neighbouring country," the court said in the verdict released Tuesday.
The verdict said through their actions, they tried to harm Bangladesh's relation with a brotherly country like India and smeared the foreign policy.
"it was clear from the defendants' testimonies, especially those of the intelligence officials that they had 'close relations' with ULFA leader Paresh Barua.
Police had seized 10 trucks of weapons and ammunition from the state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd (CUFL) jetty on the banks of Karnafuli River while being offloaded from the trawlers in the early hours of April 2, 2004.
Police after final count recovered a total of 4,930 different types of sophisticated fire arms, 27,020 hand grenades, 840 rockets, 300 accessories of rocket launchers, 2000 launching grenade tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11,40,520 rounds of ammunition that stuffed in 1,463 wooden boxes of ten truckloads in the country's ever biggest arms haul on April 2, 2004.
On that day, Karnafuli Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Ahadur Rahman filed the two cases.
Charges were framed against the accused on Nov 15, 2011 and the testimony began on Nov 29 the same year.
After over three years of hearing, arguments of the counsels for the state and defendants, the case closed on Jan 13 this year.
Judge SM Mojibur Rahman of Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 signed the verdicts.
