62 Uzi permitted for sale, no more

Arms traders can sell the imported Uzi pistols to buyers with arms license, according to a directive issued on Monday by the public security division of the home ministry.

Additional secretary (Political and ICT) of the division GSM Zafrullah confirmed the development to Prothom Alo.

According to the directive, the government has banned import of .22 bore Uzi pistols in the country. A total of 121 Uzi pistols have been imported to the country, of which 62 remain unsold.

Those pistols can be sold to licensed buyers upon taking approval from the public security division, it said adding the law enforcers would keep surveillance of those pistols’ use and maintenance after the sale.

The Uzi is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns. Smaller variants of Uzi are called ‘machine pistols’. The first Uzi pistol was designed by Israel army’s major Uziel Gal in the late 1940s. This pistol is popular because of its light weight and capability of fire more shots in a minute.

The decision of the government has been sent to inspector general of police (IGP), principal staff officer of Armed Forces Division, director general of Border Guard Bangladesh, DGFI, NSI, Ansar and VDP, director general of RAB, divisional commissioners, additional IG of SB, DIGs of all ranges, district magistrates, SPs and general secretary of Bangladesh Arms Dealers and Importers Association.

On 20 August last year, the detective branch (DB) of police arrested Minal Sharif, a suspected drug dealer, from Mohammadpur in the capital city. He was in possession of an Uzi pistol with 44 rounds of ammunition. Investigation revealed that six companies imported these Uzi pistols in Bangladesh since 2015.

This led to widespread outcry in the law enforcement agencies as they did not have any idea that these semi-automatic pistols are being imported in the country. Prothom Alo published a report over the matter that time.

According to that report, the detective branch sent a notice to MH Arms Company’s proprietor Mukaram Hossain. In a written reply, Mukaram said he imported those arms through Uttara Bank’s Ramna branch upon approval from the home ministry.

Prothom Alo talked to Mukaram on Wednesday. He said, “We sought approval for selling those weapons six months ago. The government has given approval after thorough investigation for one long year. But they have set requirements to take approval of the ministry again for selling those arms to the buyers with arms licence.”

The arms dealer also said the government in 2016 formulated a policy for licensing, renewal and using guidelines. There is no bar to sell .22 bore arms in a private level.

Although Israel designed this arms, many other countries also manufacture it. Bangladeshi arms traders bought this from German Walther arms.