This fundamental supposition leads one to believe that the Bogra ammunition hauls are tied to a grand design of some regional or international clique for whatever reasons. Let us examine.

Our past experience guides us to believe investigations into similar incidents have often been kept away from public view, or nothing much happened after the waning of initial sensation. This time too, we can keep guessing and wait to see how things unfold.

We are, however, surprised by the extent of the reaction of the government, which started to blame the main opposition for the alleged commission of a crime the investigation into which has barely begun.

This ominous development overlooks a vital clue that springs from the quantitative immensity of the cache and leads one to believe that the cache was not meant for domestic use due to the following possibilities, as were collated from media reports:

The arms entered Bangladesh via Teknaf from Myanmar.

The entire cache was made in China.

The cache was destined for the bordering Hili region in the north for, what it seems, an onward journey toward India's northeast region (via the Siliguri corridor) or Nepal.

Indian northeast region and Nepal are home to a number of secessionist groups currently engaged in fighting with governments.

Bangladesh's criminal groups have little use for so much of armaments.

This is not the first time that Bangladesh is being used as a convenient conduit for illegal shipment of arms by groups from within and without, maintained Brig Gen Hafiz (former DG of the BIISS) during an interview with the BBC Radio yesterday.

Suspects arrested so far (and being interrogated) are learnt to have confessed to being hired to carry the cache from southern Bangladesh to the northern tip of the country.

Other suspects associated with the cabal hail from the bordering areas of India. The arrest by the BDR of the three suspects in Sylhet does corroborate this particular version of the episode.

The above fact must be very seriously considered by the intelligence and military experts. We consider Bangladesh being used as a conduit for arms smuggling is a significant threat to national security.