In a report filed before the magistrate last week, the CBI said that its investigations against the 36 others -- operatives of the Arakan Army and the Karen National Army -- would continue since the Defence forces have failed to produce crucial witnesses in court. The CBI's report, filed by Deputy Superintendent J. Nayak, states they will now ask for the help of Interpol in verifying the antecedents of the detainees and send off Letters Rogatory to Myanmar and Thailand.

The CBI report admits that the rebels were notmerely routing a consignment of arms and ammunition from near the Indian archipelago, they wanted to establish a training camp and ammunition depot in Landfall Islands. Six prominent leaders of the Arakan Army -- the armed wing of the National United Party of Arakan (NUPA) -- were killed in the operation and NUPA leaders have since alleged they were double-crossed by the Military Intelligence (MI) after being promised a safe passage and a shelter for arms at Landfall Islands.

While the military authorities have been silent on this aspect, the CBI's report makes it amply clear that the Indian Army's ``encounter'' with the armed Myanmarese and Thai did not take place on sea but after the 73 men had spent an entire night at Landfall Islands.

This, in fact, matches the version of Dynyalln, one of the Port Blair detainees, who talked about how they had been welcomed at Landfall Islands by a contingent of the Indian Army led by Lt Col V J S Grewal.

The CBI's version of events is that the rebels had intendedto establish a training camp and arms depot and had landed there on May 9, 1998. The 73 men shifted their arms and ammunition (total of 145 arms and 40,000 rounds of ammunition) from their trawlers to speed boats and had then offloaded them on Landfall Islands. ``They lit up a fire there, cooked their food and stayed the night,'' the report reveals.

In the meantime, says the CBI, a colonel of the Madras Regiment who was commandeering the Operation brought in reinforcements and was waiting for daybreak. On the morning of February 11, the gun-runners were asked to surrender arms, and that is when the action occurred.

The CBI's report describes the killing of the six men: ``When ordered to surrender, some tried to escape from the south side and while running, started firing indiscriminately on the troops...In the crossfire, the six fleeing gun-runners could have sustained injuries and they entered the sea waters. When the gun-runners did not surface for some time, the troops along with some Naval divers,searched for them but could not trace them and they were presumed dead...''

However, the report concludes, since the foreigners who landed on Landfall Islands did not have valid documents and since their aim was to establish an operating base in Landfall Islands and wage war against a lawfully established government (the report does not state which government), their detention was necessary.