AGARTALA, March 22 (TIWN): Just ahead of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) election here in the state, in a joint operation conducted by Assam Rifles personnel and Mizoram Police personnel recovered seven US-made M4A1 carbines, one AK-56 assault rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition on a road between Champhai and Zote village on Thursday.According to sources, Thangdeihpianga (38) resident of Champhai was arrested while carrying the arms concealed in a plastic sack in a two-wheeler bearing no registration number.According to police, during interrogation the accused claimed that he had an accomplice who was a Myanmarese national and the arms were brought from Myanmar through the porous border near Ngur hamlet via the border river Tiau, he added.However, the police are yet to ascertain the destination of the weapons, state intelligence officials did not rule out the possibility of Bangladesh rebels belonging to the Chakma community being involved in the smuggling. But they are also looking into the possibility of Tripura militants trying to get the weapons to create trouble ahead of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) election, said police.

 To prevent any untoward incident BSF has intensified vigil along Tripura’s 856-km-long border with Bangladesh. “We have been directed by our higher authorities in Delhi to intensify vigil along the border in the wake of reports that Tripura is being used as a corridor or transit point for entry of fundamentalist and terrorist elements into India”, said a high level BSF official.

The insurgents were using the Tripura-Mizoram-Bangladesh tri-junction as corridor, the source said security agencies, including the Assam Riffles, have been trying hard to stop infiltration of militants from across the border.