Purulia Arms Incident
'Bangladesh had no link'
It has been finally proved that Bangladesh did not have any involvement, alleged by Indian media, in the incident of dropping arms in Purulia of West Bengal in 1995.
Awami League lawmaker Maj Gen (retd) Shubid Ali Bhuiyan said this at news conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) in the city yesterday.
On December 17, 1995, a huge consignment of arms, mostly AK 47 rifles, rocket launcher, and anti-tank grenade, was dropped from an AN 26 plane at Jaipur, Purulia.
The plane was captured by Indian security forces in Mumbai on December 21 the same year, and six persons were arrested.
Following the incident, Indian media alleged that Bhuiyan, who was then the principal staff officer (PSO) of Armed Forces Division (AFD), had signed the "end user certificate" of those arms meant for delivery to Bangladesh Army.
Bhuiyan, referring to a recent TV interview by the prime accused of the incident, made clear that neither Bangladesh nor its army had any link to it.
Kim Devy, the prime accused, disclosed in his interview with Indian private TV channel Times Now that Indian and British intelligent agencies were involved in the incident, and the arms were dropped in Purulia from a Latvian aircraft.
Bhuiyan said, "Kim did not mention name of mine or any other Bangladeshi's for the incident, proving that neither Bangladesh nor its army had any link to the occurrence."
"After Indian media's claim, the DGFI conducted an investigation into the issue and found no involvement of Bangladesh government or its army in the incident."
Also a freedom fighter, Bhuiyan said he had to bear a false allegation over the last 15 years, but finally the truth has come out.
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