Bangladesh High Court has acquitted former Home Minister and BNP leader Lutfozzaman Babar and five others who were earlier convicted of supplying arms to ULFA, the armed separatist groups in India. They were awarded death sentences after the conviction in the 10-truck arms smuggling of 2014 in Chittagong. Besides, the High Court also commuted the death sentence of another six accused in the case to 10 years imprisonment.
After hearing appeals filed by the convicts in the case, a High Court bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter delivered the verdict on Wednesday. Among those whose death sentences have been reduced to jail term includes ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, who currently lives in China.
Five others acquitted in the case are former director of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, ex- Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited (CUFL) managing director Mohsin Talukder, former CUFL general manager (admin) Enamul Hoque, former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin and Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami.
The case dates back to 1 April 2004, when 10 trucks carrying huge quantities of arms and ammunition were seized at Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited jetty. The arms were meant for United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the armed insurgent group engaged in war with India in Assam. At that time, ULFA’s military wing chief Paresh Baruah was living in Dhaka, with several of the group’s leaders residing at various places in Bangladesh.
The recovered arms and ammunition included 4,930 different types of sophisticated firearms, 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 1,140,520 bullets.
Following the development, two cases were filed under the case, one under the Arms Act and another under the Special Powers Act. Over 50 people were named in the cases. Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance was in power in Bangladesh at that time. The then home minister Lutfozzaman Babar was also made an accused in the case, as it was held that such large-scale arms smuggling can’t happen without the support of high government officials and intelligent officers.
Several politicians and military officers were charged in the case, including two former Director Generals and a former director of National Security Intelligent, ministers, govt officials, officials of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited including its GM, and Paresh Baruah. Apart from Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar, Industries Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami, who was also the Jamaat chief, was also charged.
Additional Secretary to the Industries Ministry, Nurul Amin and Paresh Baruah fled the country after they were charged, while many others were arrested. 14 persons were awarded death sentences in January 2014, ten years after the incident, for smuggling in ten truckloads of firearms to be supplied to ULFA.
