Looted weapons being used in crimes

Looted firearms are increasingly turning up in criminal activities in Dhaka, Chattogram and Narayanganj, raising fresh concerns over the already fragile law-and-order situation.

A significant portion of the firearms and ammunition looted from police facilities on August 5, 2024, remains unrecovered. According to Police Headquarters data, 1,303 firearms and 257,060 rounds of ammunition are still unaccounted for.

There is already evidence that some of the looted weapons have changed hands several times before reaching criminals and being used in extortion, snatching, drug trafficking and attacks on police.
Law enforcement officials and crime experts fear that tracing and recovering the weapons will become increasingly difficult as more time passes.

According to Police Headquarters data, 5,763 firearms were looted from various police facilities on August 5, 2024. As of September 27 this year, 4,460 firearms had been recovered, leaving 1,303 still missing. Of the 652,008 rounds of ammunition looted during the same period, 394,948 have been recovered, while 257,060 rounds remain unaccounted for.

The unrecovered weapons include 109 China rifles, 30 SMGs, three LMGs, 202 China pistols, 439 9mm pistols and 382 12-bore shotguns. Among the missing ammunition are 243,747 rounds of bullets of different calibres, 11,391 tear-gas shells of various types and 1,168 sound grenades.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on August 29 that a separate special unit had been formed within the police to recover looted and illegal firearms. A reward ranging from Tk 10,000 to Tk 200,000 was announced for anyone providing information that helps locate the weapons.

Later, on September 9, the Special Response Battalion (SRB), the former RAB, was assigned to coordinate efforts to recover the looted firearms. The authorities also announced that informants’ identities would be kept confidential. A reward of up to Tk 200,000 was set for heavy weapons, while the maximum reward for pistols, revolvers and shotguns was fixed at Tk 50,000.

SRB’s Legal and Media Wing Director Wing Commander MZM Intekhab Chowdhury, told The Daily Observer that special operations are underway to recover the looted firearms. Although preliminary information about the locations of some weapons is available in different areas, a lack of sufficient information is making it difficult to locate them in many cases. 

He further said that some people who took weapons during the situation might now be reluctant to return them for fear of legal action. This is why arrangements have been made to keep informants’ identities confidential and provide rewards.

Senior journalist Parvez Khan, who has been covering crime for four decades, told The Daily Observer that recovering the looted weapons is becoming increasingly difficult with time. There is no reason to believe that all the weapons will be recovered simply because the SRB has been assigned the coordination role.

He further said that if the weapons have already changed hands several times, identifying their whereabouts will become even more difficult.

Human Right Activist and Advocate Alena Khan said that recently, various criminal activities-including the menace of juvenile gangs and political instability-have been occurring in different areas. There is a risk that the looted weapons could change hands and fall into the possession of terrorists and notorious criminals in the capital and elsewhere, potentially leading to a severe deterioration of the law-and-order situation at any moment, which could violate human rights. Therefore, it is imperative to step up intelligence operations to recover these looted and illegal weapons, she said.

There are already several examples of looted firearms being used in crimes. A pistol used to fire at police during the arrest of Chattogram criminal Mobarak Hossain alias “Galakata Mobarak” was identified through forensic examination as a weapon looted from Kotwali Police Station on August 5, 2024. Mobarak told police that he had obtained the firearm through another criminal.

In Dhaka, looted firearms have also reportedly been recovered from the Auto Sajal gang. Sajal was named for allegedly supplying the weapon used in an attack on an official of the Department of Narcotics Control. Police later recovered firearms and ammunition from his associates.

On September 12, police recovered a 9mm pistol, two magazines and 20 rounds of ammunition looted from Araihazar Police Station. The items were found abandoned at a mosque in Narayanganj. Earlier, on August 3, a looted police shotgun was found in a fisherman’s net in Narayanganj’s Araihazar. Police later matched the weapon with their records and confirmed that it was among the firearms looted from Araihazar Police Station during the 2024 student-public movement.

Dr Md Omar Faruk, professor of Criminology and Police Science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, said there is evidence that some of the looted firearms have reached criminals and been used in extortion, snatching, robbery, drug-related activities and attacks on police. The more the weapons change hands, the harder it will be to trace their origin and use, he said.

Police Headquarters Assistant Inspector General (Media and PR) AHM Shahadat Hossain said that a large portion of the looted firearms had already been recovered and efforts were underway to recover the rest. He urged anyone with information about illegal firearms to inform law enforcement agencies.