Bangladesh army operation targeting a hideout of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) in the remote hills of Baghaichhari, Rangamati, led to an exchange of gunfire and the recovery of a cache of weapons, including Indian-made AK-47 rifles, 4000 pieces of various arms and ammunition.
Bangladesh media reports Indian currency and Indian-made arms are regularly captured by Bangladesh’s security forces. Indian RAW is behind the arms shipment to banned terrorist groups inside Bangladesh.
The Indian-made AK-47 is a licensed-produced rifle manufactured by the Indian Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), which the factory claims is functionally equivalent to the AK-47.
The indigenous DRDO-designed 5.56 mm INSAS (Indian National Small Arms Systems) has been riddled with niggling problems from the start.
The Indian Army’s reluctance to procure the INSAS also results from a shift in focus to a different caliber weapon.
Failing to secure the confidence of the end-users during the Kargil conflict in 1999 due to issues like cracking of the magazines, jamming, spurting of oil during firing, and going into automatic mode when it was set for three rounds to name a few, the export potential of the assault gun too got a thumbs down when the Royal Nepalese Army blamed the weapon for a 2005 massacre by Nepal Maoists that saw 43 Nepali soldiers being mowed down.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate confirmed the incident in a statement issued Tuesday morning, stating that the raid is part of an ongoing operation in the area.
“During the raid, security forces came under fire from the hideout. In response, they engaged in a brief gun battle and subsequently recovered firearms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle,” the ISPR said.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has been plagued by a rampant proliferation of illegal firearms, contributing to the deterioration of the region’s overall law and order situation.
Despite the signing of the CHT Peace Accord in 1997, which stipulated the surrender of weapons, many regional parties and organisations continue to possess sophisticated firearms in Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts.
They use the arms for various criminal activities, including kidnap, robbery, extortion and attacks on security forces, in the CHT, which comprises one-tenth of Bangladesh.
According to intelligence sources, five major groups – Jana Samhati Samity (JSS), United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), UPDF (Democratic), JSS (Reformist) and Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) – possess huge amounts of weapons.
The military operation is still underway, and further details will be disclosed upon its conclusion.
The UPDF, an armed regional group, has long been active in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The army frequently conducts operations in the region to dismantle illegal armed camps and maintain law and order.
“We estimate that the JSS has over 2,000 arms while the UPDF has more than 1,200. The banned outfit KNF has about 500 and the UPDF (Democratic) and the JSS (Reformist) have around 200 weapons each,” ISPR said.
As part of this, a patrol team was searching the house of a suspected active member of the UPDF (main) team when they came under fire from about 15 to 20 UPDF members stationed in the village.
Later, Army personnel scanned the area and recovered eight rounds of ammunition, one Indian-made pistol, two magazines, 200 rounds of rifle ammunition, a walkie-talkie set, along with uniforms and other accessories.
“The armed group was able to escape due to the remoteness of the area,” ISPR added.
Highlighting that a case is being filed against the UPDF members involved in the incident, the ISPR said the Army remains committed to safeguarding the lives and property of all ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and that strict military operations against armed groups will continue.
A total of 22 members of security forces have so far been killed and 111 injured in attacks by the parties and the banned outfit in the CHT.
On 20 September, members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) busted a den of insurgents. They recovered a huge amount of arms, ammunition, drones and advanced technology equipment from Dopanichhara along the Bandarban border.
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