| Submit your comments on this article |
| Bangladesh |
| Sherpur ammo left by Indian insurgents |
| 2010-12-24 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] The Sherlocks suspect that the recently recovered huge quantity of bullets in Bakagora village of Sherpur belonged to the Indian Orcs and similar vermin active in the bordering hilly villages. Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, chief of Rab intelligence wing, told The Daily Star that they suspected the ammunition belonged to Indian separatists and they left it behind while leaving their hideouts. He said operatives of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) were active in the area amid intensive drives but their network here is almost destroyed. The Ulfa train its operatives in the hilly bordering areas. Many law enforcers and locals told The Daily Star that operatives of Ulfa have hideouts in the bordering villages in Sherpur. On the recovered bullets, the locals and Sherlocks said it is difficult to identify the people who had left those as no one, except for an 80-year-old, had a look at them in the dark. On December 18, Jhenaigati police recovered 13,680 rifle bullets, equivalent to 57 packets of ammunition, in plastic sacks from an abandoned room of octogenarian Wasir Uddin around 7:00am. A man with a knife threatened Wasir Uddin not to disclose that bullets have been hidden in his house when Wasir stepped out of his house hearing a sound in the adjacent room, said Jhenaigati upazila freedom fighters' commander Yousuf Harun. Harun, also a neighbour of Wasir, said, "He [Wasir] rushed to my house when the criminals left. With a few other neighbours I whisked to Wasir's house and immediately informed the superintendent of police and the officer-in-charge of Jhenaigati Police Station over the cellphone." OC Abdur Rauf of Jhenaigati Police Station said, "The bordering villages on hills are so remote that our men and logistics are not sufficient to keep vigil over the area after nightfall. Besides, there are herds of wild elephants to deal with. The Indian Orcs and similar vermin have been taking this advantage of their hideouts." The OC also suspects that Ulfa operatives might have left the bullets. Earlier in October last year, the Rapid Action Battalion recovered 10 Arges grenades from Jhenaigati and jugged three persons including two indigenous men. After preliminary interrogation Rab Sherlocks said indigenous Pang Vang Sangma, 37, and Nipin Sangma, 25, of Gajni village in Jhenaigati collected the grenades from Indian separatists. Locals and Ulfa intruders Locals at some hilly villages in Jhenaigati upazila said they are living in constant fear. They cannot go out of home at night fearing Ulfa men. They fear that since the villagers have informed law enforcers of the abandoned ammunition, the Ulfa men may come back and take Dire Revenge™ on them. The villagers alleged that although Indian Orcs and similar vermin kept intruding and living with indigenous families in the remote hilltop villages during the BNP-led four-party alliance government, local police and administration remained indifferent about it leaving the locals insecure. The Orcs and similar vermin used to roam about at night and sometimes scared wild elephants using firearms. Some villagers seeking anonymity said Ulfa separatists had taken shelter at Chhoto Gajni, Boro Gajni, Nakshi, Halchhati, Tilapara, Naukuchi and Bakakura villages of Jhenaigati during the four-party alliance government and started leaving the areas during the tenure of caretaker government. It has been around three months since Ulfa operatives were last seen in the area, they added. Another local wishing not to be named told The Daily Star that Ulfa operatives usually married into indigenous families and settled here. They, however, did not come to Bangalee neighbourhood, he added. Hajiran, a middle aged poor woman, said on one evening three years ago, her son-in-law took his wife and one-year-old son for a walk and they went missing. "After their disappearance, I came to know that my son-in-law was an Ulfa operative," she said, adding that he could not speak Bangla well but Hajiran agreed to marry her daughter off to the man as he was rich. Several coppers said they also heard about Ulfa men disappearing with their wives and children from the country but no victim has ever reported that to police. |
| Posted by:Fred |