During the July-August student-people uprising, nearly 1,500 firearms and over 250,000 rounds of ammunition were looted from various police stations across the country. Those are yet to be recovered.
The looted weapons have fallen into the hands of criminals and are being used in crimes.
Last week, a pistol looted from a police station was used in the murder of a young woman in Munshiganj.
Moreover, the police suspected that firearms and ammunition looted in the October-November period were used in a series of shootings and murders in the Geneva Camp of Mohammadpur, Dhaka.
Several police officers told Prothom Alo that the looted firearms and ammunition have fallen into the hands of escapees from prisons, notorious criminals, extremists, radical groups, and teenage gangs, causing growing fear and insecurity among the public.
Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August, police sources revealed that 5,750 firearms and more than 651,609 rounds of ammunition were looted from various police stations, outposts, and facilities.
These included various types of rifles, submachine guns (SMG), light machine guns (LMG), pistols, shotguns, gas guns, tear gas launchers, tear gas shells, tear gas spray, sound grenades, and ammunition of different calibers.
A joint operation to recover the looted weapons and ammunition began on 4 September. According to police sources, as of 4 December, 4,331 firearms and 388,456 rounds of ammunition had been recovered. However, 1,419 firearms and 263,153 rounds of ammunition remain missing as of now.
Wishing not to be named, several police officers told Prothom Alo that around 700 prisoners, who escaped during the July-August uprisings, are still at large.
They said the looted firearms and ammunition have ended up in the hands of criminals, and these two issues have raised significant concern about public safety and law and order.
Expressing worries, the police officials stated that if the firearms and ammunition are not recovered and the escapees are not caught, there is a real fear of worsening law and order.
Police headquarters sources have informed the media that there are 664 police stations across the country. On 5 August, during the uprisings in Dhaka and other districts, various police units and establishments, including stations and outposts, were attacked, vandalised, and set on fire. Police vehicles used for official purposes were also burned.
Firearms and ammunition were looted from these stations, effectively halting police operations across the country from the afternoon on 5 August. Police officers were too fearful to report to work, and eventually, Ansar members were deployed to guard police installations. Police operations resumed on 13 August.
Murders committed with looted firearms
On Saturday morning, the police recovered the bullet-ridden body of 22-year-old Shahida Akter from the service lane of the expressway in the Dogachhi area of Munshiganj. The police arrested her “boyfriend” Touhid Sheikh, also known as Tanmoy, in connection with the murder.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Touhid used a pistol looted from Wari police station in Dhaka to shoot Shahida. Based on his confession, the pistol used in the murder was recovered.
On Tuesday, Munshiganj district police superintendent Mohammad Shamsul Alam Sarkar told Prothom Alo that Touhid confessed to hiding the looted pistol at his home after it was stolen from Wari police station on 5 August. He shot Shahida over a dispute. Touhid has confessed the murder in court and is currently in jail.
In October-November, a series of shootings and murders occurred in the Geneva Camp in Mohammadpur, Dhaka. Police suspect that looted firearms and ammunition were used in these incidents.
The officer-in-charge (OC) of Mohammadpur police station, Ali Ifthekhar Hasan, told Prothom Alo that after the shootings and murders in the Geneva Camp, a joint security operation was launched. Several pistols, revolvers, and sharp weapons were recovered during the operation.
He further said that tome of the pistols and revolvers recovered might have been registered firearms owned by ordinary citizens, but this has not been confirmed due to a lack of documentation.
On 5 December, while cleaning a drain behind the Children’s Park in Kushtia city, a sanitation worker found a shotgun, six rounds of bullets, and a shell casing. Upon information, police members from Kushtia Model police station seized the items.
The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kushtia Model police station, Shihabur Rahman, said, “The shotgun and ammunition belong to the Kushtia district police. It had been looted.”
Growing concern
Last week, Brigadier General Syed Mohammad Motaher Hossain, the Inspector General of Prisons, said in a press conference that 2,200 prisoners escaped from various jails during the July-August uprisings. Of those, 1,500 have been arrested, but 700 remain at large. Among the fugitives are 70 high-risk individuals, including terrorists, death-row convicts, and notorious criminals.
Moreover, 174 high-profile prisoners including 11 top criminals have been released from jails.
The fact that 700 escapees, including some of the country’s most dangerous criminals, are still on the loose, and that firearms and ammunition have fallen into the hands of these criminals, has caused serious concern among police officers.
On Tuesday, the additional inspector general of police (Crime and Operations), Mohammad Akram Hossain, told Prothom Alo that most of the looted weapons have been recovered. Efforts to locate the remaining weapons are ongoing, with the police launching various operations.
Criminals are being forced to discard weapons, which are then recovered by the police. Committees have been formed across the country to recover the remaining firearms. The police are also closely monitoring the escapees and those on bail, ensuring they do not disturb law and order.
Mohammad Omar Farooq, professor at the Department of Criminology and Police Science at Maulana Bhashani University of Science and Technology, believes that the remaining looted firearms and ammunition could be a major factor in the deterioration of law and order.
He told Prothom Alo that the weapons have ended up in the hands of criminals, creating a serious security threat for the public. These weapons are being used to commit crimes.
He suggested that joint operations need to be intensified, surveillance should be increased, and suspicious individuals should be targeted for area-based searches.
Farooq pointed out that if the law enforcement agencies do not conduct these targeted operations in a more organised manner, recovering the looted firearms will be challenging.