Joint drive soon to recover illegal arms, combat crime

The ouster of the fascist Awami League government through a mass uprising about a month ago kindled bright hopes for an improved country, but that immediately faced a tough challenge of deteriorated law and order situation, which was the worst of all the challenges including the economic and political ones.

A large number of firearms and ammunition were looted from police stations, outposts and jails, which have added to the risk already existing due to the spread of illegal weapons.

Besides, the menaces of criminals have gone up, resulting in murders. To check the overall negative situation, a countrywide joint drive is likely to be launched very soon, said sources at the law enforcement agencies.

The sources said the joint operation may begin after 3 September, the deadline for submitting the looted and licenced arms and bullets.

During the drive, criminals and perpetrators of murders during the anti-discrimination protests will be arrested, and the looted, non-submitted and illegal firearms will be recovered.

A senior officer of the Bangladesh Police said the armed forces are in the field to assist the civil administration, so they will be part of the joint drive.

According to the Police Headquarters, 450 police stations came under the attacks during the mass uprising. Huge number of arms and bullets were looted from the stations during that period.

As of 31 August, police recovered 3,872 firearms, around 2.86 lakh bullets, 2,221 tear gas canisters and 2,139 sound grenades. A large number of looted arms and ammunition still remained unrecovered, said sources.

On 27 August, the Police Headquarters asked the people who looted arms and ammunition of the police to deposit those to nearby police stations by 3 September; otherwise, legal action will be taken against them.

On 5 August afternoon, Vatara Police Station was set ablaze.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Vatara Police Station Mazharul Islam told the Daily Sun that many of their firearms and ammunition were looted and most of them could not be recovered.     

Among the six police stations under the Uttara Crime Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Uttara East police station was set on fire during the mass uprising.

On 25 August, the firearms licences issued to civilians from 6 January 2009 to 5 August 2024 were suspended by a circular signed by Assistant Secretary of Home Ministry Johirul Haque.

The licence holders were asked to deposit the arms and ammunition at nearby police stations by 3 September. However, the rate of submitting the arms licenced during the period is not satisfactory so far, said sources.

Sarwar Alam Khan, inspector (investigation) of Tejgaon police station, told the Daily Sun that about 15 licenced firearms were deposited to their police station till Saturday.

The number of licenced arms in the area is several times higher than the number of the submitted ones.

According to the Special Branch (SB) of police, there are 50,310 licenced firearms across the country.

Of those, licences for 45,226 arms were given to individuals while the remaining ones were given to financial and other institutions.

Of the 45,226 arms belonging to individuals, 4,683 are pistols, 2,043 revolvers, 31,528 guns, 5,044 shotguns, 1,706 rifles and 4,006 others.

Among the individuals possessing licenced firearms, 7,215 are Awami League men and 2,587 BNP men.

Assistant Inspector General (Media and PR) of Police Headquarters Enamul Haque Sagor told the Daily Sun that the arms that have been asked to be deposited at the police stations will be considered illegal after 3 September.