A Chittagong court on Wednesday recorded deposition of prosecution witness Golam Rasul, a police Habildar, in two cases related to the recovery of 10-truck arms and ammunition.
The metropolitan sessions’ judge SM Majibur Rahman, also judge of the special tribunal-1, recorded deposition of Rasul, who was posted at the port police outpost during the incident, and fixed Thursday for cross examining him.
Rasul, in his deposition, said an unknown phone caller informed him about off loading of illegal goods at the CUFL jetty at night, adding that he had conveyed the information to sergeant Alauddin over telephone soon after receiving the call.
‘Alauddin and myself rushed to the spot and found two persons overseeing off loading a consignment of goods,’ he said, adding that one of the two persons was Hafizur Rahman while another identified himself as Abul Hossain.
‘The then officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli police station Ahadur Rahman reached the spot soon after us. The two informed him that the consignment was of arms for ULFA and asked him not to seize the arms, as government high-ups, including state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar, were aware of it,’ he added.
Ten arrested in the cases, including former industries minister Matiur Rahman Nizami and former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar who were accused in the supplementary charge sheets of the cases, were produced during recording of the deposition.
Another arrested in the case, Enamul Hoque, former general manager of CUFL, could not be produced due to his illness while military chief of ULFA Poresh Barua and former acting secretary of the industries ministry Nurul Amin remained absconding.
On April 2, 2004, the police seized 4,930 types of sophisticated firearms, 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11,40,520 bullets when they were being loaded onto 10 trucks from two engine-boats at the jetty of CUFL.
Ahadur Rahman, the then Karnaphuli police officer-in-charge, filed the two cases on April 3, 2004, in connection with the incident. The cases were transferred to the criminal investigation department of police after 22 days.
The CID on June 26, 2011, submitted supplementary charge sheets following further investigation into the cases on a court directive.