Arms found in Sherpur 'belong to Indian separatists', speculates Home Minister Kamal

A huge cache of arms and ammunition found in Sherpur on Monday may have been stockpiled by Indian separatists, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal has said.

"I won't blame anyone. The previous government (led by the BNP) gave Indian separatists shelter. This (the found arms and ammunition) is an indication of that," Kamal told the media on Tuesday.

RAB seized the arms and over 48,000 rounds of ammunition at Sherpur's Nalitabarhi, a hilly terrain bordering the Indian state of Meghalaya on Monday.

Rifles and ammunition had been found in Sherpur's Nalitabarhi earlier also.

Between 2007 and 2011, rockets, mines, other arms, and about 50,000 bullets had been found from time to time in the adjacent Jhenaigati Upazila, lying along the border with India.

After the discovery of the mines in 2010, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said they suspected the explosives had been left behind by India's United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants.

The home minister also recalled an earlier seizure of arms and ammunition in Sylhet.

Chunarughat, in Sylhet's Habiganj, where the arms were found in 2014, was said to have been a hideout of the All Tripura Tiger Force, an Indian separatist group.

Kamal said the present government had no tolerance for separatists. "Our government catches them and hands them over to the authorities concerned," he said.

The minister held the press conference soon after his meeting with US Ambassador Mercia Bernicat and UK High Commissioner Alison Blake at his office.

"They have praised our steps to tackle terrorism and enquired about the way we were doing it," Kamal said.

"Bernicat said IS (Islamic State) is not present in Bangladesh, but the country is under IS threat. So they want to exchange information with us and send an expert for this purpose," he said.

"We've told her we are always ready to exchange information," he added.