Special Correspondent | CHT News
Monday, March 9, 2026
Members of the Bangladesh Army have allegedly supplied ammunition to armed terrorists of the JSS Santu Group stationed along the Matiranga–Panchari border, on the condition that the group continue the ongoing fratricidal conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The information was obtained from a reliable confidential source.
According to the source, the handover took place at around 1:30 a.m. on March 3. A group of soldiers from the Matiranga Zone reportedly traveled to Bandarsing Para in Taindong Union under Matiranga Upazila of Khagrachari District, near Vagabantila, where members of the armed group were waiting.
The soldiers arrived in three vehicles, accompanied by two additional vehicles carrying members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the source said. A black vehicle with tinted windows was reportedly used to transport the ammunition.
The ammunition was handed over at Lambachhara, at a location locally known as a kijinge, a point where two hills meet. Terrorists of the Santu Group were waiting there to receive the consignment.
Although the group had reportedly requested 20,000 rounds of ammunition, the army initially supplied 2,000 rounds. The source said the ammunition was provided on the condition that it be used to keep the fratricidal conflict active and that the group must “show results.”
The soldiers reportedly assured the group that more ammunition would be supplied later if such “results” were demonstrated.
After handing over the ammunition, the soldiers went to the Vagabantila BGB camp and later returned to Panchari via Rupsen Para between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.
Sources also said that before the elections on February 12, Santu Larma held several meetings with army officials at the Rangamati Brigade headquarters. During those meetings, it was allegedly decided that the Bangladesh Army and the JSS Santu Group would work together to maintain the ongoing fratricidal conflict in the region.
When asked for a reaction regarding the alleged ammunition transfer, a former senior leader of JSS, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said that Santu Larma’s political character suggests he would accept any conditions set by the army in order to remain in the Regional Council.
“He reached an understanding with the army long ago, so this is not surprising,” the former leader said. “But taking ammunition from the army shows that the Santu Group has become very weak. Without the army’s support, it cannot survive.”
When contacted for comment, a leader of the United
People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), Apu Tripura, told CHT News, “The Santu Group
is clinically dead. Supplying a few rounds of ammunition as life support will
not bring it back.”
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