Arms dealer in guise of 'goat trader'

Police yesterday recovered 22 foreign pistols, 45 magazines and 136 bullets from a house of Shankarbati in the district town.

TM Mujahidul Islam, superintendent of Chapainawabganj police, said a "goat trader" rented the house from its owner Shahin, an army personnel, a couple of months ago to run his business from there.

The police official said the "goat trader" then used to store firearms there and run his arms smuggling business under cover of trading of goats.

He said acting on a tip-off that some smugglers stored firearms in the house, the Detective Branch of police kept a close watch on the house for the last three days. But police did not find anybody entering the house.

The SP added that around 1:30pm yesterday, the DB police, led by him, went to the house, broke the locks of the house door and entered the house.

Police then found a sack there and recovered 22 pistols, 45 magazines and 136 bullets from it. Police also seized 29 goats from the house.

The police official also claimed that the firearms were smuggled in from India and stored in the house to send those to Dhaka.

Police also detained two people, including a woman, from the area for interrogating them.

They are Rokeya Begum, stepmother of Shahin, and his cousin Shakil Ahmed.

The SP, however, did not disclose the name of the goat trader for the sake of investigation.