Arms, ammo recovered in Ctg: 72 Shibir men held

CHITTAGONG, Mar 18: Arms and ammunition have been recovered from two hostels of Chittagong College and 72 cadres of Islami Chhatra Shibir have been arrested in an overnight raid conducted by the CMP detective police.
 The detective police and Kotwali police raided Sher-e-Bangla and Suhrawardy hostels of Chittagong College from 1:00 am to 6:00 am on Wednesday acting on a tip-off that a large quantity of arms and ammunition have been amassed in the hostels and Shibir cadres have gathered there amid rumours that the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student affiliate of the ruling Awami League, would take control of the nearby Haji Mohsin Government College.
The raid was led by additional deputy commissioner (DB) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police SM Tanvir Arafat and assistant commissioner of CMP Kotwali zone Shah Abdur Rauf.
They seized one AK-22 training rifle, one 303 Lee Enfield rifle, three single barrel guns, one double barrel gun, five rocket flares and 88 rounds of ammunition from the hostels.
SM Tanvir Arafat said they have arrested 72 activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir, student affiliate of Jamaat-e-Islami party, from hostels of the college controlled for long by the Shibir activists.
The police said after completing raids in the two hostels they searched the residential area of the college teachers and staff. They found a hole covered with soil behind a 3-storey staff quarters and after digging the soil they found the arms and ammunition wrapped by a banner demanding release of war criminal and Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee.
Following the raid in Chittagong College the police raided Haji Mohsin Govt College, just in front of Chittagong College. Assistant Commissioner Abdur Rauf said the police during this raid recovered containers of petrol, explosive, bomb-making materials and sharp weapons from different areas of Haji Mohsin College.
Eight Shibir cadres were also detained from a cave on a hill in the college complex, he said.
CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal told the reporters today that the arms and ammunition have been recovered from the residential area. "So it is most likely that some teachers and employees, besides the Shibir cadres, are involved with the amassing of arms. These cadres must have their protectors otherwise they could not have amassed such huge arms and ammunition," he said.
"We are also investigating the role of the protectors of Chhatra Shibir," he added.
Meanwhile, a six-member inquiry committee headed by Prof Shaheda Islam of the department of Chemistry of Chittagong College has been constituted by the principal of the college to probe the arms haul from the college. The team has been instructed to submit its report within three working days.
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