Ctg trader held with 270kg of sulphur

The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday arrested a person with 270kg of sulphur, which can be used for making explosives, in Karnaphuli area of Chittagong city.

According to Rab sources, a crude bomb can be made from only five grams of sulphur. The arrestee is Omar Faruk, 35, a resident of Charpatharghata of Patiya upazila.

On information, a team arrested him with six sacks full of sulphur, Maj Jahangir Alam, deputy director of Rab-7, told a press briefing at the force's Chandgaon Camp. 

Faruk, owner of a betel nut processing factory, claimed that the sulphur was meant for fumigating and preserving betel nuts.

He said his brother Habibur Rahman, 30, and friend Abdun Noman Bappi, 30, were also involved with storing the substance. Both of them are absconding. However, Bappi's father Absur Sobur said his son was not involved with storing the material, and he was just friends with Habibur. 

A chemist at the Department of Environment (DoE), Chittagong, Kamrul Hasan, confirmed that sulphur was used for preservation of betel nuts but Rab's Maj Jahangir said the material could not be stored without the government's approval. And the arrestee could not show any documents permitting the storage, he said. Rab suspected that the material was stored for making bombs but could not make sure whether the three had any link to militant activities.