Nizami, Babar produced in Ctg court

Police on Thursday produced before court 11 of the accused in 2004 Chittagong arms haul case including former ministers Matiur Rahman Nizami and Lutfozzaman Babar for the verdict. The verdict in the sensational 10-truck arms haul cases will be delivered by a Chittagong court shortly. Judge SM Mojibur Rahman of the Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 will deliver the verdict. Four of the accused were taken to Chittagong Central Jail from Dhaka and Kashimpur jails. The prosecution have claimed to have proved the charges and sought the highest punishment of the accused, while the defence have sought the acquittal of their clients, saying the state lawyers had “failed” to prove the charges. The Jail Super of Chittagong Central Jail said former state minister for home affairs Babar and former industries minister Nizami had reached Chittagong from Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur at 7:00pm on Wednesday amid tight security. Two other accused Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim and Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury arrived in Chittagong Central Jail from Dhaka Central Jail on Tuesday night, he said. The verdict is eagerly awaited today after a long wait since the seizure of the country’s largest-ever arms consignments in the early hours of April 2, 2004. The weapons included 4,930 sophisticated firearms of different types, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 27,020 grenades, 2,000 grenade-launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11.41 million bullets, according to a news agency.