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Bangla court set to frame charges

By The Assam Tribune

DHAKA, Oct 3 � A Bangladeshi court is set to frame charges against 52 suspects, including ULFA chief Paresh Barua and top Islamist leader Matiur Rahman Nizami in the country�s biggest ever arms smuggling case when 10-truck loads of arms destined for banned Indian separatist group were seized, reports PTI.

�The court set the date on October 25 for framing the charges� as all of the 11 detained accused including ex-junior minister for home Lutfizzaman Babar, ex-industries minister and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Nizami and two former army generals appeared before the judge, a court official said. The rest 41 people accused in the case are absconding.

Officials familiar with the investigation said their extended probe found Chinese firm NORINCO to have produced the weapons but they could not identify the ship that carried the illegal consignment to Bangladeshi territory.

Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions judge SM Muzibur Rahman also rejected the bail petitions of three of the accused, former director general of National Security Intelligence (NSI) Rezaqul Haider Chowdhury, Major (retd) Liaqat Hossain and top leader of arms smuggling group Deen Mohammad, in the cases while the accused lawyers sought bail for them.

The supplementary charge-sheet said the weapons were brought for ULFA under the supervision of some officials of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and National Security Intelligence (NSI).

The eight other suspects included former chiefs of National Security Intelligence (NSI) retired brigadier general Abdur Rahim and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) ex-major general Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury.

Barua and another suspect who was an industries ministry official were on the run but the others were already in jail to face the trial in person while the CID sought INTERPOL assistance to arrest Paresh Barua.

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