ULFA paid $99 mn bribe for arms’ passage in Bangladesh
November 11th, 2010 - 1:45 pm ICT by IANS
Dhaka, Nov 11 (IANS) An Indian militant group and the embassy of a South Asian country bribed “higher-ups” in the former Khaleda Zia government to ensure safe passage of a huge arms cache that landed in Chittagong port in April 2004, a former minister has told investigators.
The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), operating in northeast India, had teamed with the embassy that was not named, to pay Taka 7 billion ($99.4 million) for transshipment of 10 truckloads of arms, ammunition and explosives, said detained former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar.
Babar was “in the know of things” but was helpless as there were orders from “higher-ups”, he told officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), reported The Daily Star Thursday.
Babar, a minister in the Zia government (2001-06), did not name the South Asian embassy.
Ten truckloads of submachine guns, AK-47 assault rifles, other firearms and bullets were seized at the Karnaphuli coast in Chittagong April 2, 2004.
The cache, detected by guards at a warehouse where it was hidden, was meant for the ULFA that was then staging violent attacks from Bangladeshi soil, media reports on the ongoing trial in a Chittagong court have said.
The arms, purchased from China, were brought in a ship owned by a company belonging to Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury, a lawmaker and senior leader of Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Officials have so far questioned a former home secretary, two former chiefs of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and a former Director General of Field Intelligence (DGFI).
The NSI and DGFI are key intelligence agencies in Bangladesh.
Babar denied receiving any share of the amount, a CID official probing two cases filed in connection with the arms haul told the newspaper.
The former state minister claimed he knew everything but could not interfere in the matter as it was at the hands of “higher authorities”, said the CID official quoting him.
“Babar remained silent when he was asked about the higher authorities,” said the intelligence official.
The Sheikh Hasina government has closed down the ULFA camps, evicted many of its top leaders and facilitated their detention by Indian authorities.
- Ex-Bangladesh minister denied bail in Chittagong arms haul - Nov 12, 2010
- Dhaka police look for ship that carried arms for Indian militants - Oct 25, 2009
- Bangladesh court to question officials in 2004 arms seizure - Sep 29, 2009
- Zia's son did not meet Indian militant, says BNP - Feb 09, 2010
- 'Arms found in Bangladesh meant for Indian insurgent group' - Jun 09, 2009
- Chittagong arms case: Nabbed Bangladeshi spies confess arms shipments to ULFA - May 22, 2009
- Dhaka to prosecute 2 former spy chiefs smuggling arms for Indian rebels - May 18, 2009
- Zia government behind botched ULFA arms shipment, court told - Mar 05, 2009
- Nabbed official tried to send arms to militants in India: Dhaka - May 04, 2009
- Zia's party withdraws ex-minister's expulsion order - Dec 20, 2009
- Arms haul: Dhaka to question former ministers - May 19, 2009
- Dhaka opposition leader alleges 'plot' to kill him - May 07, 2010
- Two former intelligence chiefs held in Bangladesh - May 16, 2009
- Won't allow 'subversion' by fugitive Indian militants: Dhaka - Oct 14, 2009
- Musharraf met Indian militant in Dhaka: Bangladesh minister - Jan 09, 2010
Tags: arms ammunition, assault rifles, bangladesh nationalist party, bangladesh nationalist party bnp, criminal investigation department, criminal investigation department cid, field intelligence, intelligence agencies, khaleda zia, militant group, northeast india, qader, safe passage, security intelligence, soil media, south asian country, state minister, submachine guns, united liberation front, violent attacks