Drive recovers 318 weapons in one and half months

Most of the firearms and ammunition looted from police and other forces in the days before and after the fall of the Awami League government still remain unaccounted for, raising concerns that these have fallen into the wrong hands.
Law enforcers and other forces on September 4 launched a drive to recover the lost arms and ammunition, but at least 1,748 weapons have yet to be found, according to officers.
As of October 14, only 318 arms have been recovered during the joint drive conducted by the armed forces, border guards, coast guards, police, Rab, and Ansar.
The recovered arms include the recently looted ones. However, the law enforcers do not know how many of the looted weapons have been recovered.
The recovered arms also include the ones with licences that were suspended on August 25, and ones that are illegal in Bangladesh.
“Without intelligence, it is difficult to make such an operation a success. You cannot search every house, looking for arms,” says Air Cdre (retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury.
One of the reasons behind the lack of intelligence could be that the police as a force have lost its morale, he added.
“Meanwhile, the missing firearms may have been taken to the hilly areas or smuggled out of the country. Militants, some of whom have recently walked out of jail, could have got hold of them.”
According to the Department of Prisons, at least 70 militants escaped from 17 jails in late July and August, many with arms.
Air Cdre (retd) Ishfaq says the government should continue the drive to recover the arms, engage people through media campaigns, and offer rewards for information leading to recoveries.
At the request of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, imams of different mosques during Juma prayers yesterday read out a notice urging people to hand illegal arms to law enforcers.
Individuals depositing the firearms will face no legal action, added the notice.
During the mass uprising that led to the fall of the Awami League government, law enforcers used excessive force and fatally shot many protesters, causing significant public wrath. Groups of people, especially members of the AL, also shot at protesters.
On August 25, the interim government suspended arms licences issued to civilians during the AL rule.
As the AL regime fell, mobs attacked police personnel, vandalised hundreds of police stations, vehicles, set many facilities on fire, and killed at least 44 officers.
During the chaos, 5,829 firearms and 606,742 bullets were looted from police stations and facilities. The weapons include Chinese rifles, submachine guns, pistols, shotguns, tear gas launchers, and signal pistols.
After taking office, the interim government ordered people to return the weapons by September 3. Only 3,763 of the looted firearms and 286,082 bullets were returned and recovered.
Firearms of the Special Security Force were taken from the the Gono Bhaban and parliament. Police have not disclosed how many Special Security Force firearms were lost.
Asked about the lacklustre state of firearms recovery, Enamul Haque Sagor, assistant inspector general (media) at Police Headquarters, said, “We are trying, and doing our best. It is a top priority and the joint operation will continue.
“We request people to help us find the arms. Your identities would be secret.”
As of September 3, people submitted 13,349 firearms with suspended licence, according to Police Headquarters data.
But the PHQ has no data on how many arms with suspended licences are still out there because there is no database on the licences issued during the 15-year AL rule.
“We are working to make a separate database of legal and looted firearms to get a clear picture,” said AIG Sagor.
An intelligence officer said a large number of AL leaders and supporters left the country or went into hiding after August 5. At least 187 police members also went into hiding.
Many of the police members and AL leaders had licensed arms, but none of them submitted those to law enforcers.
Police sources said that a large number of the weapons are in the possession of various criminals.
On September 29, the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate said arms looted from the police were reportedly used by miscreants at the Geneva Camp in the capital’s Mohammadpur.
Officials recovered two pistols, 20 bullets, many sharp weapons, and 12 packs of splinters from the Geneva Camp.
Tawohidul Haque, associate professor of social welfare at Dhaka University, said, “Weapons that are unaccounted for are a major concern because these can lead to deterioration of law and order situation.”