With this arms haul, the paramilitary force retrieved a total of 26 AK47 and two M16 rifles, four mortars, eight light machine guns, one rocket launcher and more than 14,000 bullets in last one and a half months from the upazila.

Tipped off, a team of 40 Rifles Battalion led by Lt Col Hasinur Rahman, raided Chikonchhari area, some eight kilometres west of Lambuchhari camp, at dawn yesterday and found a den of criminals after searching the area until 4:00pm.

The BDR members dug out the sophisticated assault rifles, 53 magazines, 1,506 bullets, 11 cleaning kits and 21 oil cans, sources said. But the gunrunners had fled the scene before the security forces surrounded the area close to Myanmar border.

The BDR and army last year seized 22 AK47 rifles, eight LMGs, eight stenguns, three M16 rifles, seven sub-machine carbines, four mortars, three pistols, 24 guns, 10 other types of rifles, 38 wireless sets, 169 shells of heavy machine gun and 24,585 bullets.

Arms and explosives experts of the army examined the arms. A team of US arms experts also visited Naikkhongchhari last January. But they could not find the origin of the arms as the smugglers rubbed out the brand and the names of the manufacturing countries.

The law-enforcers so far failed to arrest anyone in connection with the arms smuggling.

In mid December last year, the BDR seized seven sub-machine carbines with 37 magazines, eight stenguns with 19 magazines, ten .303 rifles, two locally made guns, four .303 rifle barrels, 7,199 bullets of AK47, 2,700 bullets of 7.62mm rifle and 2,400 bullets of 9mm pistol.

On November 24, the BDR seized two 60mm and two 2-inch mortars, three British-made LMGs and its 49 magazines, 32 magazines of self-loading rifle, 11 magazines of AK47 assault rifle, and 2,000 bullets of British-made LMG.