Law enforcement officers in Cox’s Bazar intercepted a consignment of illegal weapons, seizing eight locally made firearms and arresting two suspects following a high-speed vehicle pursuit in the Maheshkhali upazila.
The operation culminated late on Saturday night when police set up a strategic checkpoint at the Thakurtala crossroads. Authorities acted on a tip-off indicating that firearms were being transported from the Adinath jetty ghat area in Chhotomaheshkhali union toward Badarkhali in Chakaria via an auto-rickshaw. When the targeted auto-rickshaw approached the checkpoint, the driver ignored police signals to halt and attempted to flee. Officers gave chase and successfully cornered the vehicle, detaining two occupants while two others managed to escape on foot.
A thorough search of the intercepted auto-rickshaw uncovered eight homemade firearms wrapped tightly in polythene packaging. The recovered arsenal comprised one rifle, six single-barrel guns, and a locally fabricated light gun.
Local police officially briefed journalists about the operation on Sunday afternoon at the Maheshkhali police station. Additional Superintendent of Police Ohidur Rahman told reporters that the raid stemmed from a breakthrough earlier in the week. On August 21, a police team conducted a deep-forest raid in the Mithachhari area of Shaplapur union, arresting a suspect alongside a substantial cache of weapon-manufacturing equipment. Information extracted during subsequent interrogation pointed detectives toward an active trafficking network moving finished weaponry out of the hilly terrain.
The two individuals taken into custody during Saturday night’s operation were identified as Manik Dey, 38, from the Thakurtala area of Maheshkhali, and Md Rubel Mia, 34, hailing from Kusumpura union in Chattogram’s Patiya upazila. Maheshkhali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Sultan confirmed that a formal case under the Arms Act has been filed against the pair. Both suspects were produced before a local court following their arrest, while police teams continue combing the area to track down the accomplices who fled the scene.
