Bangladesh link under India's scanner for 'import' of explosives, training militants

‘Dreadful explosives’ smuggled into India

India’s intelligence agencies are “digging deep” into reports emerging from Bangladesh about two containers of “dreadful explosives” arriving at the Chittagong port in a ship from Pakistan on December 21, a senior security official told The Federal.

The Indian agencies claimed to have possessed photographs of one of the containers (WHLU-42617942G1) containing boxes of “seismic emulsion explosive (SEE).”

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The SEE is a relatively new and more powerful class of gelatin dynamites designed for blasting. This ammonium nitrate-based explosive can be used to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs) of choice, the official said.

Flagged by customs, released by ‘higher-ups’

The existence of these explosives was discovered when Bangladesh’s Customs and Navy officials conducted physical examination of the containers unloaded from the Chinese-cargo ship named 'MV Yuan Xiang Fa Zhong,' the official added.

Within hours of Customs and Navy officials suspending the delivery of the consignment deemed illegal, the goods were released following orders of higher authorities.

The Panama-flagged cargo ship was carrying 997 containers. Of these, 780, including 678 containers from Karachi, were unloaded at Chittagong Port.

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Indian agencies suspect ISI-DGFI hand

Incidentally, as per the cargo documents the shipment included sugar, soda ash, denim fabrics, yarn, dolomite lumps, natural dolomite, dried fish, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), potatoes, radiator cores, and other goods. There was no mention of it carrying any explosives.

“It is definitely not for the army or any law enforcement or security agencies. There is still no clear information about the purpose or on whose orders these dangerous goods have been imported,” the official said.

The Indian agencies suspect the explosives were imported as part of a joint initiative of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) to destabilise India.

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“This is dangerous for India,” the official said, adding it could be the repeat of the 2004 arms smuggling operation the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) had executed with the help of Bangladeshi security agencies, who were under the influence of the ISI at that time.

Repeat of 2004 arms smuggling?

Police and coast guard, who were out of the loop, seized 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition while they were being loaded from two-engine boats at the Chittagong harbour.

After the incident became public, the then BNP-Jamaat government reportedly tried to hide the India angle to the case. The investigators initially did not record the statement of one of the accused who had revealed the involvement of the Ulfa and the top brasses in the government in the entire operation.

The entire conspiracy was unearthed only after a caretaker government took charge.

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Md Hafizur Rahman and Din Mohammad, charged in the smuggling case, in their deposition before a Metropolitan Magistrate in 2009 said that the operation was done under the direct supervision of Ulfa leader Paresh Barua, who was residing in Dhaka at that time, with the full knowledge of some top men in the government, including members of parliament, officials of the DGFI and the National Security Intelligence (NSI).

Copycat operation

A similar operation was carried out this time too, Indian agencies suspect. Only that there was no seizure this time.

A part of the explosives has already gone to Sylhet and the other to Keraniganj, as per the information with the Indian intelligence agencies.

Even the Awami League, the party dislodged from power by a student-led uprising in August, flagged the development in its social media posts.

“A consignment of dangerous explosives arrived at #Chattogram Port from Karachi, Pakistan, on Dec. 21, according to sources. These #explosives, namely Seismic Emulsion Explosive', are capable of destroying large structures and causing significant casualties,” the party posted on X on December 28.

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Possible link with mysterious murders

The Indian agencies are also trying to find out whether there is any link between the mysterious murders of seven crew members of a cargo ship MV Al Bakhera on Meghna River in Chandpur last week.

The fertiliser-laden lighter vessel was going to Sirajganj from Chittagong port. Indian agencies suspect the seven might have been eliminated for being possible witnesses to the shipment of explosives.

The Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), however, claimed that the murder was committed by the ninth person, Akash Mondol alias Irfan, on board the vessel when it was anchored.

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The RAB said Irfan committed the crime as he was frustrated over prolonged non-payment of wages and mistreatment by the vessel’s master Golam Kibria. He reportedly sedated the victims by mixing sleeping pills in their food before attacking them.

RAB’s version of murders, elusive killer

The elite force said it came to know about the presence of Irfan on board from the testimony of injured crew member Jewel. In his testimony, Jewel reportedly told RAB that another crew member (Irfan) was also on board on that ill-fated night.

Irfan escaped from the ship using a boat after committing the crime, the RAB was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi media.

The Indian agencies, however, say there are several loopholes in the RAB versions. Why would Irfan kill all the crew members if he had grudges against only Golam Kibria. The RAB’s version that he did so to eliminate the witnesses is not very convincing as the other victims were sedated.

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The suspicion over the latest shipment further deepened as Bangladesh's incumbent caretaker recently scrapped a rule that had made physical inspection of Pakistani cargo mandatory in Bangladeshi ports.

Bangladesh’s hand in Tripura insurgency

Moreover, the Indian security agencies also came to know from interceptions of telephonic calls about how Bangladeshi security agencies recently helped formation of two ethnic militant outfits in Tripura, namely the Tripura Ham Bargha Ta Army (THBTA) and Mog National Party (MNP).

The THBTA’s avowed goal is to establish a Riang state by carving out Riang-dominated areas of North Tripura. The outfit is headed by Hambai Riang and currently has around 70 cadres.

The outfit is being assisted by Bangladesh Army’s infantry brigade based in Khagrachari. One of the self-styled commanders of the nascent outfit Yangpu Riang is regularly in touch with Bangladesh army officials, according to Indian security agencies.

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Deep state operations

The MNP’s fresh recruits are undergoing military training under the supervision of the Bangladesh army at Rajasthali sub-division of Rangamati district in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from the first week of December, according to the Indian security official.

The Bangladesh Army has reportedly provided its ground at its Bangalhalia camp at the sub-division for the target shooting of MNP recruits, numbering around 50, the official said.

Earlier, this month Indian security agencies unearthed, what they claimed, a Bangladesh-based Islamist terror group’s plan to destabilise Siliguri corridor – that connects India’s north-east with rest of India – by setting up sleeper cells and modules. The involvement of Bangladesh’s deep state behind the move is suspected.