Big arms haul case verdict

THE curtain has been drawn over the long-pending arms haul case with capital punishment given to 14 convicts by a Chittagong court on Thursday. While we have reservations about the high number of death penalties, we, however, welcome the verdict as it has unburdened the nation of a moral crisis as it has come to light that the arms and ammunition recovered on our soil were destined for a terrorist group, Ulfa, based in Assam in neighbouring India.
We know now that even ministers and top ranking officials of two state security agencies were complicit in the arms smuggling that took place in April 2004 when BNP was in the government.  
In terms of scale and implications, the hauling of 10 truckloads of smuggled arms and ammunitions was something unprecedented in Bangladesh's history.  
Terming it unusual, the judge of the trial court has also given an unusually harsh verdict. However, the defendants will be able to appeal to the higher court against it.
Clearly, the masterminds behind this sinister scheme were out to subvert the stability of the region. It boggles the mind how high-ups of vital security agencies of that time could get caught up in such a nefarious plot.  Their action bore the portents of endangering the country's security itself and placed Bangladesh's bilateral relationship with India along a conflicting trajectory.   One wonders what kind of security concept guided the policymakers of that period! Obviously, it was seriously lacking in foresight.
It is relieving that the schemers did not succeed in the dangerous game they had been playing with national security, thanks to the risk taken by some members of the police who challenged the smugglers and thereby helped to foil their evil design.