Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized a consignment of arms from a border area in Rajshahi early Friday.

The weapons were recovered around 5:30 am during a special operation at the Rawtha BOP area along the border in Bagha upazila of the district.

The seized items include two foreign-made pistols, four magazines and eight rounds of bullets. BGB said the weapons were smuggled into Bangladesh from India.

Commander of BGB’s Rajshahi-1 Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Riaz Shahriar, said the arms smugglers fled after sensing the presence of BGB members, leaving behind the weapons along with a motorcycle.

Later, BGB personnel searched the abandoned motorcycle and recovered the arms, he added.

Lt Col Riaz Shahriar said BGB had earlier received intelligence that a consignment of arms was entering the country through river routes. Based on the information, members of the border outposts jointly took ambush positions in the border area.

After waiting for a long time, a suspicious person was seen moving on a motorcycle in the Rawtha-Pirojpur area under Bagha Police Station early in the morning. When BGB members tried to stop him, he fled the scene, leaving the motorcycle behind.

The BGB commander also said security has been strengthened in the operational area of the 1st Battalion ahead of the upcoming election.

As part of the security measures, 10 base camps, 28 platoons of mobile striking force, K-9 units, seven speedboats and a fast patrol craft have been deployed on the Padma River. In addition, around 700 BGB members, including striking reserves, are on duty at 16 border outposts in the area.