The army recovered around 1,100 sharp weapons in a raid on several shops and warehouses in Dhaka’s New Market area on Saturday. Nine people involved in selling and supplying these weapons were arrested.
The information was disclosed at a press briefing at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Army Camp last night by Lieutenant Colonel Nazim, Commanding Officer of the Daring Tigers, 46 Independent Infantry Brigade.
Lieutenant Colonel Nazim said, “We received information that these items (sharp weapons) were being secretly sold, supplied to terrorists from certain locations, and even rented out. In some cases, they were being delivered free of charge — home delivery included. Through various media reports, we learned that these weapons were being distributed to terrorists from somewhere in Dhaka.”
He added, “The arrested suspects admitted that they were receiving these samurai weapons from a specific source. We then launched an intelligence operation. Over the past few days, our agents visited various locations and confirmed where these sharp weapons could be found. Based on that, we conducted searches at three to four shops in New Market today (Saturday) and recovered these weapons.”
The army officer further said, “Today we were able to arrest nine people involved in this activity. The main stock of these weapons was found in three shops. We have observed for months that terrorists mostly use such locally-made weapons. Over the past three to four months, they have been stockpiled on a large scale and are appearing in the hands of various criminals.”