UNB, Dhaka :
Small firearms are being smuggled into the country from India, especially along the frontier districts of Chapainwababganj, Satkhira, Jessore, Meherpur and Chuadunga despite a crackdown by the border guards, intelligence sources said.
The sources said consignments of illegal arms through border points of Benapole, Sharsha, Chowgachha, Satira, Debhata, Kaliganj, Kalaroa of Jessore, Moheshpur of Jhenidah, Daulatpur of Kushtia and various points of Chuadanga have shot up alarmingly in recent months.
The smuggling increased especially targeting the upazila elections, the sources said speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the crime.
They said gunrunners of India and Bangladesh are involved in the illicit trade. The illegal weapons are promptly distributed among the miscreants across the country, including capital Dhaka.
According to the sources armed cadres, especially political cadres, are the main destination of the illicit weapons. They use the weapons for political violence and to intimidate political opponents.
The smuggling continues even after strong vigil mounted by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
According to reports, BGB members of Benapole in seperate drives recovered five foreign made pistols, 10 magzines, 9 rounds of bullets and one empty shell from putkhali bordering point of Sharsha upazila in Jessore on March 17.
On March 1, BGB members in separate drives recovered four pistols, six bullets, four magazines and one kg explosives in Kadamtala Baropota area and Putkhali border in Sharsha upazila of Jessore.
BGB members, the sources said, can recover only one percent of the smuggled arms even though it is not known how many illegal small firearms enter the country a month.
