The Lingering Threat of Looted Firearms

A joint recovery operation began on September 4, 2024, and by July 5 this year, authorities had recovered 4,445 firearms and 394,869 rounds of ammunition. While the recovery is substantial, more than one in five looted firearms is still missing.
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More than two years after the political upheaval of August 2024, it is unacceptable that a troubling legacy of that period continues to pose a threat to public security. According to Police Headquarters data, 1,318 firearms and 257,139 rounds of ammunition looted from police stations and other security facilities were still unaccounted for as of July 5 this year. The figures are alarming not simply because state property remains missing, but because firearms outside lawful custody can easily become instruments of crime and violence.

The scale of the original loss was enormous. According to media reports, a total of 5,763 firearms and 652,008 rounds of ammunition were looted from police stations, outposts, police boxes and other police facilities during the upheaval. The weapons included rifles, sub-machine guns, light machine guns, pistols, shotguns and gas guns, as well as tear-gas launchers, grenades and ammunition of different calibres.

A joint recovery operation began on September 4, 2024, and by July 5 this year, authorities had recovered 4,445 firearms and 394,869 rounds of ammunition. While the recovery is substantial, more than one in five looted firearms is still missing. Given the country’s already fragile security situation, the continued absence of these weapons could further compound law-and-order challenges. Also, the longer they remain outside official custody, the harder it may become to trace their whereabouts and determine who possesses them.

More concerning, however, are the consequences that are already becoming visible. Some of the missing weapons have reportedly been used in criminal activities. In Chattogram, a pistol looted from Kotwali police station was recovered following a mob incident in Satkania. In another case, police recovered a pistol and four rounds of ammunition from a suspected criminal gang leader in Pahartali. The weapon had reportedly been looted from Pahartali police station and later used in snatching, robbery and other crimes. These incidents come amid growing concerns over robbery, extortion, violence and other forms of criminal activity in different parts of the country. In such a situation, the circulation of firearms once held under state control could further undermine efforts to restore public order.

Thus, the recovery effort needs renewed urgency. Law-enforcement agencies should work in a coordinated manner to trace every outstanding firearm and ammunition stockpile. Recovered weapons should be examined for links to criminal cases, while information gathered from such investigations should be used to identify networks through which other looted weapons may have circulated. Accurate records of recovered and missing firearms must also be maintained and regularly updated. Given the wider law-and-order challenges facing the country, there is little room for complacency.

At the same time, the authorities should investigate how such a large quantity of firearms and ammunition could be taken from facilities responsible for maintaining public security. Stronger systems for securing weapons, maintaining inventories and ensuring accountability are essential to prevent a similar failure in the future. This is particularly important because recovering the weapons alone will not address the institutional weaknesses that allowed such a loss to occur. The crisis of 2024 may have passed, but its consequences remain. The authorities must therefore ensure that the weapons lost during that period never again become a source of insecurity for the public.

The writer is Editorial Assistant, The Daily Observer