BDR in the early hours on Friday recovered 59 powerful mortar shells, a high-powered bomb, an anti-aircraft shell and an explosive rocket kept under ground in Bangladesh-Myanmar border area under Thanchi upazila in Bandarban.

Acting on a tip off, Bolipara BDR started a drive at Thanchi upazila on Thursday night and ended it after recovering the weapons in the early hours on Friday, BDR sources said.

This is the biggest ever weapons recovery in the district. The sources confirmed that the recovered arms and ammunition were ready for use although they could not confirm why the heavy artillery had been stored in the remote hill area.

However, local sources said the weapons belonged to Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), a guerrilla group active in neighbouring Myanmar.

Local sources said due to factional splits the ALP has turned into a group of terrorists and arms smugglers. At present due to strict measures taken by the Bangladesh government against terrorists, they have left Bangladesh hiding their weapons at different places inside the country, which made the arms recovery possible.

Earlier on November 2, BDR personnel also recovered two powerful mortar shells, two home made guns and 14 rounds of bullets, and arrested two indigenous persons as suspects from the same area.

According to an army source in the district, the army and BDR have been engaged in a joint operation named 'Operation Uttaran' in order to eradicate terrorist activities in the hill tracts including the border area. The drive was conducted as part of the operation.

According to an army official, there is a 288 kilometres long land border between Bangladesh and Myanmar starting from Naikkhongchhari up to Thanchi. Due to high hills and reserve forests the army with only eight observation camps could not establish their full control over the long stretch of border.

As a result terrorist groups both from home and abroad have made their strong bases in the unprotected border area.

According to an estimation of the government, 17 large and small terrorist groups are active in Naikkhongchhari, Alikadam, Lama and Thanchi areas in Bandarban.

In Chapainawabganj the BDR seized 75 powerful explosives weighing eight kilograms from a truck carrying imported Indian wheat at Kansat border Thursday night.

The explosives of different sizes found in 10 packets are powerful enough to blow up large buses or houses if primed with detonators, BDR officials said.

The truck, released from Sona Mosque land port at Shibganj upazila, was loaded with 16 tonnes of wheat from Venus Traders in India, imported by Hasan Traders in Bogra through a clearance and forwarding (C&F) agent Prime Enterprise in Chapainawabganj, sources said.

BDR arrested Masud and Shamim, employees of Hasan Traders, Asir Uddin, the truck driver, and his helper Shamsur Rahman.

Masud told BDR that he was bringing the explosives for Jewel, the owner of Hasan Traders, who intended to use them as firecrackers during his (Jewel's) wedding ceremony.

An Indian citizen gave him the explosives describing them as mild firecrackers and asked him to get them to Jewel, Masud added.

The consignment consisted of 20 ice cream cone shaped explosives, 30 stick shaped explosives, six 1.5"x 10" explosives, six 0.75"x16" explosives, 13 other explosives of different sizes and many wicks in a container.

The C&F agent and the wheat trader went into hiding after the news of the seizure spread.

The explosives were sent to Dhaka for chemical tests and a case was filed under the Explosives Act.

Meanwhile, Chapainawabganj police recovered a shutter gun and two bullets from a cowshed at Bholahat upazila Friday night and arrested a police source Babul, and his accomplices Muktar and Abdur Razzak in this connection.

In Chittagong, a powerful bomb was recovered yesterday morning from a water drain in front of a Kindergarten School in the city's West Madarbari area under Doublemooring Police Station. Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) later defused it.

Police could not identify the origin of the bomb or the persons who planted it.

Police sources said two Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) sweepers, Parimal Das and Monjur Alam, found the bomb while they were cleaning a drain in front of MA Baten KG School on an alley at Mogultuli in West Madarbari at about 11:30am.

Being informed, a team of police led by Assistant Commissioner (port zone) Ziaul Kabir and Officer-in-Charge of Doublemooring PS Miah Kutubur Rahman went there, cordoned off the area and informed Rab officials of the matter.

A bomb disposal unit of Rab arrived at the scene, recovered the bomb, submerged it in water, took it to an open field and defused it at about 2:00pm.

Sergeant Shahid, a bomb expert of Rab, told journalists that the powerful bomb was made of high-capacity explosives and it was timed with a clock for detonation.

"Fortunately, the bomb did not explode as there was no battery in the clock," he said.

The Assistant Commissioner (port) Ziaul Kabir could not identify the origin of the bomb. He said they would seek help from bomb experts of the army to know more about it.

Some local people however, believed that the bomb might have been planted by JMB activists for carrying out sabotage after Eid festivities.

A case was filed in this connection with the Doublemooring PS.