Illegal arms: Joint drive to begin Sept 4

All firearms and ammunition issued over the last 15 years will be considered illegal if these are not submitted to police stations by tomorrow.
The government has decided to conduct a joint operation, comprising the members of armed forces, BGB, Coast Guard, police, Rab, and Ansar, across the country from September 4 to recover the illegal firearms, including those licences having suspended.
The home ministry issued a circular in this regard yesterday.
For conducting drives, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury in a press statement said yesterday, “Law enforcers will have to identify themselves during any drive and arrest, and under no circumstances, they cannot make any arrest without showing their identities.”
The home ministry instructed all the district magistrates to hold a corecommittee meeting today, comprised of superintendents of police, representatives of the armed forces, intelligence agencies, and other members, reads the circular.
The meeting will review the list of suspended licences.
On August 25, the ministry suspended licences of guns issued to civilians over the past 15 years — January 6, 2009, and August 5, 2024 — during the tenure of the Awami League government.
Yesterday, the ministry asked the authorities to inform the licence bearers through text messages for submission of the firearms, and ammunition to their nearby police stations.
Md Kamrul Ahsan, additional deputy inspector general (confidential) of Police Headquarters, told The Daily Star yesterday, “The firearms whose licences were already suspended will be considered illegal if these are not submitted to police stations by September 3 [tomorrow].”
He asked the users of licenced guns for submission within the timeframe to avoid facing legal action.
According to sources in the Special Branch of police, there are details of 50,310 licensed gun bearers in the database. However, the officials are yet to get the actual figure of how many legal firearms were issued during the tenure of the AL-led government.
A top SB official, requesting anonymity, told this newspaper, “We are working to update the database and hopeful of completing the work within a day or two.”
Yesterday in a directive, the PHQ announced that all firearms and ammunition looted from police stations during the recent violence must return by tormmorw.
To this end, Kamrul Ahsan, additional DIG of PHQ, said, “We are giving priority to recover the guns, looted from different police stations and establishments.”
As of yesterday, a total of 3,880 weapons of various types, looted from police stations and offices, during the recent unrest, have been recovered. In addition, law enforcement authorities have recovered 2,86,353 bullets, 22,201 teargas shells, and 2,139 stun grenades.
The recent mass protests saw widespread attacks and looting of police stations across the country after law enforcers opened fire indiscriminately, resulting in numerous fatalities.
Over 550 people, including many students, were killed during the protests, which ultimately led to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigning and fleeing the country.
The violence also claimed the lives of at least 43 police officers.