Law enforcement and intelligence agencies were baffled after a notorious drug dealer was arrested in Dhaka with what appeared to be a military-grade Uzi pistol, presumed to be imported by licensed arms dealers in Bangladesh under a fake declaration.
Three weeks into the discovery, police have been working to trace dozens of such weapons, which have been sold and distributed across the country by six arms dealers.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has already found evidence that some 91 Uzi semi-automatic .22 calibre pistols were imported by six licensed arms dealers in the country, after being declared as rifles, since 2015. Furthermore, 20 Uzi semi-automatic .22 calibre rifles also entered the country during the period.
The Uzi, which originated in Israel in the 1950s as a military-grade submachine gun, have been in service with various armed forces across the world and has much more power than firearms used by regular law enforcement agencies.
The Uzi pistol, designed like a submachine gun rather than a rifle or a pistol, has the capacity of 20 rounds per magazine and is usually an automatic, while the pistols used by Bangladeshi military have a highest capacity of 15 rounds. The Uzi generally uses 9mm rounds and not .22 calibre.
“As it is a military graded firearm, it should not be owned by any civilian even with a valid license. These types of firearms need to be impounded,” Detective Branch (DB) Deputy Commissioner (Tejgaon Division) Golam Mostofa Russell told Dhaka Tribune.
“We have recovered it from a drug dealer, and we are investigating if more drug dealers are in possession of such arms,” he added.
He also confirmed that the Detective Branch has already submitted a report in this regard to DMP and the Police Headquarters on October 28.
However, representatives of the Bangladesh Arms Dealers and Importers Association said the guns are only replica rifles made in Germany and were imported legally with accurate declarations.
When asked how Uzis were imported to Bangladesh, Nasir Ahmed, secretary general of Bangladesh Arms Dealers and Importers Association, said they imported the firearms legally, terming the media reports and Detective Branch’s findings “fake.”
“We have imported those legally. The reports [done by DB and media] are fully fake. During import, four to five government agencies were physically present and checked numbers of each of the arms. We even have permits from the Home Ministry,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
He further claimed that the Bangladeshi arms law allowed the import of semi-automatic weapons.
Also Read - Govt, licensed arms dealers meet over Uzi imports
What did the DB report say?
According to the DB report, 49 of 91 Uzi semi-automatic .22 calibre pistols have been sold to civilians with licenses.
Besides, six Uzi .22 calibre rifles, out of a total 20 imported, have also been sold to licensed arms holders.
Each UZI pistol is priced from Tk3 to Tk4 lakh, said the DB report.
It also mentioned six arms dealers – MH Arms co, Moin Firearms co, Ahmed Hossain Arms Co, Tozammel Hossain Arms co, K Ahmed & Company, and Shafiqul Islam Arms & Co – of being involved with importing and distributing the firearms in Bangladesh.
“An Uzi pistol (semi-automatic) cannot be purchased even if the license mentions approval for a .22 calibre rifle. UZI pistols and UZI rifles are totally two different firearms. They have different features such as in spare parts, weight and length of them,” the report said, citing observations by the EME division at Army Headquarters.
The headquarters also opined that the specific features of the arms should be mentioned while awarding firearm licences, suggesting that the capacity of magazines should also be mentioned.
As per the report, there are 32 licensed arms dealers under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police [DMP] area and 52 across the country—totaling 84.
Among them, 14 dealers—12 from DMP, and 2 from outside the city—directly import arms from abroad. The other dealers buy the imported arms from them.
How the ‘Uzi’ came to light
A few days ago, Minal Sharif, a drug dealer, was arrested by DB at Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area.
After searching Minal’s car, law enforcement found bottles of foreign liquor, an Uzi .22 calibre rifle and 44 bullets.
During primary investigation, detectives learned that Minal actually bought the Uzi rifle for Tk 4.5 lakh from a licensed arms dealer. The Detective Branch filed a general diary over the matter with Mohammadpur police station.
They later sent the weapon for expert examination after receiving permission from the court.
Security experts have raised concerns over why such firearms were imported into the country, and demanded a proper investigation into the matter.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, security expert Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain raised questions on what the motives were for importing the firearms.
“These are made in Israel, and are being sold in the open market. Where were our arms experts when these were being imported into the country?”
Alleging that such incidents are usually investigated in a shallow manner in Bangladesh, he also questioned: “Those who are behind such activities, whether they are from inside or outside the country, should be found out.
“What was the main reason behind bringing these semi-automatic firearms into Bangladesh? We cannot say whether these firearms were imported to create unrest in the country? How did these come from Israel, and through which border?”
He also demanded an in-depth investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, Customs Valuation & Internal Audit Commissionerate Additional Commissioner Arun Kumar Biswas told the media after the incident: "We have no information regarding the import of these types of guns. We will definitely do a thorough investigation regarding the matter."
On April 2, 2004, Bangladesh witnessed its biggest seizure of illegal arms when police recovered 4,930 types of sophisticated firearms, 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 1,140,520 bullets when they were being loaded onto 10 trucks from two engine-boats at the jetty of the CUFL.
