Habiganj arms similar to 10-truck haul

RAB’s second day of operation yielded even more arms on Wednesday at the seven bunkers atop hillocks inside the forest, which are about three km from the Indian border in Tripura.

So far, a rocket launcher, four machineguns, a rifle, five machinegun barrels, 222 anti-tank weapons with 248 charges, 19 machinegun drum chains, 19 magazines, 12,987 bullets of various kinds and large amounts of weapons lubricant have been recovered.

RAB spokesperson ATM Habibur Rahman said, “These ammos are similar to the truck-full of bullets recovered in Bogra, in 2003, and the Chittagong arms haul in 2004.”

It has been proved in court that the 10-truck arms recovered in Chittagong were brought in for Assamese separatist group ULFA.

ULFA military wing chief Paresh Barua was sentenced to death in this case.

The place where the weapons were found is thought to be part of what was once perhaps the headquarters of the now-weakened All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).

The ATTF is currently a shadow of its former self and its chief, Ranjit Debbarma, is now standing trial in his home state Tripura on several charges of murder and abduction.

Debbarma was close to Barua, who is now in hiding.

RAB officials said the driver of the truck in Bogra in which the bullets were found came from this part of Habiganj.

Although evidence seems to point to the two Indian separatist groups, RAB does not want to draw any conclusions yet.

“We cannot say yet who are involved with this arms cache. We have to investigate,” Habibur said.

Locals on the run

There are communities living on the hillocks, known as Tipraparha, but the men in those families have run away, leaving behind the women and children.

RAB Additional Director General (operations) Col Ziaul Ahsan said the men were under surveillance and would be questioned if necessary.

A woman named Sonakani Tontubai said she and her family had been living in these hills for 26-27 years.

Some years ago several men were arrested in the area in an army and BGB-led drive, she said.

She did not know whether they had found any weapons from those men.

Walking through Tipraparha, this correspondent found several locked up houses.

Some houses were open but abandoned. RAB has found three bunkers among these houses but no weapons were there.

The homes had expensive furniture inside. One of the homes had a motorcycle, without any licence plate, in the front yard.

Almost every home had an antenna on the roof. RAB said they may have been put up to improve mobile phone reception.

In one of the houses, a tin trunk lay open on the floor, with papers strewn across the floor.

Some of those papers appeared to be tax papers, with the title Government of Twipra Kingdom.

There were also some clothes in the house which looked like military uniform.

Most of the houses had solar panels on their roofs. Inside one house was an expensive sofa, a bed, a dressing table and a decorated false roof.

The bunkers were made of concrete and rods.

They were about eight feet deep and 10 feet in breadth and width. They were covered by concrete slabs.

Atop the next hillock, where there are no homes, are three more bunkers. Most of the arms were found from this bunker.

RAB officials said all hillocks in the area would be searched gradually.