Alluding to politicians' role in what he termed the triangular nexus of weapons, narcotics and politicians' patronage, Brigadier (Rtd) Shahidul Anam said, "For such a huge consignment to come into the country without the traffickers having any guarantee of political immunity is impossible."

The left-leaning 11-party alliance organised the exchange of views session styled 'the Question of National Security and the Arms Haul in Chittagong' at the National Press Club.

"Bangladesh doesn't have an effective intelligence databank to investigate this arms haul," Anam said. "So we needn't be ashamed in seeking international help in this case."

The brigadier maintained that, although there is a provision for an exchange of military intelligence within the Saarc, there is no mechanism to enforce it, as the South Asian countries do not share common interests.

Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University Department of International Relations said, "Large arms hauls aren't that unusual in Bangladesh, but the sheer foolishness in which this particular consignment was carried out suggests the traffickers were trying to smuggle the weapons while the country's focus was on its current political instability."

The absence of an official inventory of arms in the country also aids in illegal small arms being moved around, he added.

Brigadier (Rtd) Jahangir, who has a considerable experience in dealing with arms trafficking and insurgency, said no insurgent or such organisation in the country has the ability to buy such a large quantity of arms or the capacity to operate such advanced weapons. Although the arms were probably meant for some organisation abroad, the probability of a small part of the cache being used internally cannot be ruled out, he added.

Gono Forum President Kamal Hossain lamented the absence of a national security policy and the failure of the previous governments to look into security matters more adequately.

Professor Saaduddin of Dhaka University Department of Sociology said the government's probe into the gunrunning has to be flawed, because bureaucrats and police officials concerned will not be willing to contradict the allegations of opposition's involvement brought by the prime minister and the state minister for home affairs.