5 more SMGs found in Shitalakha river, four detained in Narayanganj

Police have found five more submachine guns (SMGs) from the Shitalakha River as they continued their search for weapons and ammunition in Narayanganj's Rupganj. "We found the arms from the river near Kanchan bridge of the district during a drive on Saturday afternoon," Rupganj police's OC Ismail Hossain said. They have been searching the area since Thursday night and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition the next day. In addition, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Dhaka range) Shafiqul Islam on Saturday said they launched an inquiry to unearth the source of the weapons and ammunition seized from Narayanganj’s Rupganj area. The DIG, who is also leading a probe body formed over the incident, said they detained four people named Sharif Khan, Rasel, Shanto and Shahin in connection with the incident. “We are interrogatiing the detainees,” he said, though adding that they were not linked to arms smuggling. “But, they [detainees] will be sued under the Arms Act,” the DIG continued. According to the police officer, the seized firearms were not locally made. “We are trying to dig up who actually brought in the firearms. We are even trying to verify if any militant group is behind the arms haul,” he further said. “The firearms slightly match those earlier found in the infamous 10-truck arms haul. But, we are investigating and scrutinising the matter,” he added. Shafiqul, who was made the head of the 12-member probe committee formed by the police headquarters on Friday, was talking to reporters in the office of Narayanganj's superintendent of police on Saturday. Earlier, the Rupganj police OC said 42 grenades had been recovered along with the weapons. “Some of the grenades were defused on Friday afternoon while the rest are being neutralised since Saturday morning,” he said. OC Ismail said they were yet to recover any new weapons since the morning and that police would brief media in the afternoon. Law enforcement officials raided the area after being informed by one Sharif Mia, who was arrested after an LMG was found at his house. Two rocket launchers, 62 Chinese SMGs, 44 magazines, five pistols, two walkie-talkies, 42 grenades, a huge quantity of bullets, detonators and bomb making materials were recovered on Friday.