Counter-terrorism police have arrested four people on charge of being involved in illegal arms trade and seized five firearms and 301 rounds of bullets from them in a raid in Sayedabad bus stand area in the city.
The arrests were made by Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC).
The arrestees have been identified as Md. Hossain, Lal Tan Pankhoa, Md. Ali Akbar and Md. Adilur Rahman Sujan.
Briefing reporters at the DMP media centre on Monday its Additional Commissioner, who is also chief of the CTTC, Md Asaduzzaman, said they got information that some people were staying in front of Shyamali Paribahan bus counter-6 located at 33/1 Janpath crossing of Sayedabad Bus Stand under Jatrabari Police Station to buy and sell illegal weapons.
Based on the information, Anti-Illegal Arms and Canine Team of Special Action Group under the CTTC unit conducted the drive at around 6:50 pm on Sunday and arrested the four arms dealers along with the illegal arms and bullets, he said.
He said that Hossain and Lal Tan used to collect arms from various arms dealers, including Swapan of Dhaka and supply them to different places in Chattragram including various terrorist groups in Cox’s Bazar area through Akbar and Adilur.
Lal Tan used to smuggle arms from Mizoram in India through Rangamati Barkal border and sell them in Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar areas including the hilly areas of Bangladesh. At different times, he travelled with Hussein to different parts of the country to buy and sell illegal weapons, ther CTTC unit chief said.
He said that Akbar and Adilur Rahman were close associates of Hossain and they had been buying illegal weapons from Hossain for a long time to sell them to various terrorist groups and individuals.
A case under the Arms Act has been filed against the arrested persons at Jatrabari police station.
Source: United News of Bangladesh