Photo: Bonik Barta Following the government’s fall, in addition to attacks,
vandalism, and arson at police stations, 32 percent of the stolen weapons have
still not been recovered. These include SMGs, SMTs, revolvers, shotguns, and 11
other types of firearms. Additionally, more than half of the missing ammunition
has not been located. Experts believe that if the stolen police weapons are not
recovered promptly, it could become challenging to maintain control over crime.
According to information from the Police Headquarters,
there are 639 police stations nationwide. After the fall of the Awami League
government in the face of student and public protests, 450 of these stations
were affected by public outrage. A total of 5,829 firearms were looted from the
police. This includes 1,147 rifles, 10 T-08 model rifles, 251 T-56 model SMGs,
32 T-56 model LMGs, 1,556 T-54 model pistols, 33 SMTs, 2,190 shotguns, 593 gas
guns, 14 tear gas launchers, and three signal pistols. As of September 3, 3,763
of these weapons have been recovered. A nationwide joint operation has been
launched to find the remaining 2,066 stolen weapons.
The Police Headquarters reports that a nationwide
operation to recover illegal weapons began on September 4. The joint operation
involves the Bangladesh Armed Forces, Police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB),
Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Forces, Coast Guard, and Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB). As of Friday, during the 10-day joint operation, 144 weapons
have been recovered. These include 8 revolvers, 41 pistols, 11 rifles, 17
shotguns, 5 pipe guns, 19 shotgun guns, 10 LGs, 22 guns, 1 AK-47, 1 gas gun, 1
Chinese rifle, 1 air gun, 1 tear gas launcher, 3 SMGs, and 3 SBBLs. Based on
this, 1,922 of the stolen police weapons have still not been recovered.
Amid the anti-discrimination student protests, clashes
and fatalities occurred between protesters and police across various locations
in the country. In the last three days (before and after the fall of Sheikh
Hasina's government), several police stations and outposts were attacked,
vandalized, and set on fire. In many places, weapons, equipment, and documents
were looted. As a result, almost all police activities came to a halt. The army
was deployed for the security of the police stations. According to the Police
Headquarters, operations resumed at all stations starting August 15. Alongside
the recovery of stolen weapons, the joint forces are also involved in
recovering weapons that were supposed to be deposited at the stations after the
suspension of licenses but were not handed in. However, information on how many
of these have been recovered is unavailable. The deadline for returning the
stolen police weapons was September 3, and the operation began at midnight that
day.
