The Special Response Battalion (SRB) faces a major challenge in recovering 1,306 firearms still missing more than two years after thousands of weapons were looted from police stations during the 2024 student-people uprising.
Some of the missing weapons have since surfaced in criminal activities, including attacks on law enforcement, raising concerns that others could be used in crime and to establish dominance during the upcoming local elections.
The former RAB, now SRB, was given responsibility on September 9 to coordinate joint operations to recover the remaining looted weapons.
The force is now seeking public assistance, offering rewards for information and assuring informants that their identities will be kept confidential.
According to Police Headquarters, 5,763 firearms were looted from various police establishments on August 5, 2024. Of these, 4,457 had been recovered as of September 14, leaving 1,306 still missing.
During the same period, 652,008 rounds of ammunition were looted. Of these, 394,895 rounds have been recovered, while 257,113 remain missing.
Law enforcement sources said most of the weapons and ammunition were looted by members of teenage gangs and political cadres. Some were later sold to criminal groups at low prices and changed hands several times before reaching criminal networks in Dhaka and elsewhere.
The weapons are now being used in killings, extortion, snatching, robbery, drug trade and land grabbing, the sources said. Some have also reached robbers, kidnappers, teenage gangs, pirates and forest robbers.
Looted weapons turn up in crimes
Police recently confirmed that a pistol used to fire at them during an operation to arrest Chittagong criminal Mobarak Hossain, alias Galakata Mobarak, on August 26 had been looted from Kotwali police station in Chittagong on August 5, 2024.
According to police, Mobarak told investigators that he had received the weapon through another criminal, indicating that it had changed hands several times after being looted.
In another case, a foreign-made pistol recovered during a RAB operation in Mirpur was found to have been looted from a police station after August 5. Investigators found that the weapon had subsequently been used to control drug spots, extort money, carry out snatching and robbery, and intimidate people.
On March 2, a Department of Narcotics Control inspector was shot during an operation in the Sayedabad bus terminal area.
Police later arrested criminal and drug dealer Auto Sajal over his alleged involvement in the incident. Based on information provided by him, police recovered two foreign-made pistols, four magazines, 77 rounds of ammunition and 59 grams of heroin from a rented house in Swamibagh.
Sajal told police that the weapons had been looted from Wari police station in August.
SRB-10 Commander and Additional DIG Md Asaduzzaman said three people, including a woman, were shot during a gunfight in Gendaria on August 30 over control of the drug trade.
RAB later arrested five members of the Auto Sajal group and recovered two foreign-made pistols, three magazines, 12 rounds of live ammunition and a large quantity of yaba, heroin and marijuana.
One of the recovered magazines was identified as part of a weapon looted from a police station after August 5, according to RAB.
Last August, a looted police shotgun was recovered from a fisherman's net in Araihazar, Narayanganj. Police matched the weapon with their records and confirmed that it had been looted.
Last Saturday, police recovered a pistol, two magazines and 20 rounds of ammunition from a shelf on the second floor of Araihazar Bazar Central Jame Mosque.
Police said the weapons had been looted from Araihazar police station during the 2024 uprising.
Police investigations have also uncovered evidence of the sale of looted weapons.
Detective police arrested Minhaj Uddin Rahim, 21, with a foreign-made pistol that had been looted from Double Mooring police station in Chittagong city.
Police said Minhaj entered the station on August 5, 2024, looted the pistol and later sold it to a man named Amir Hossain for Tk50,000. Police arrested Minhaj on April 13 based on information obtained during the investigation.
SRB seeks public help
Wing Commander AZM Entekhab Chowdhury, director of the SRB's Law and Media Branch, urged people with information about the locations of looted or illegal weapons to inform law enforcement agencies.
He said special operations were underway by the government, Bangladesh Police, the army and SRB, and various weapons had already been recovered.
“Some preliminary information is available about illegal weapons in different areas, including Khulna, Rajshahi and Chittagong. However, in many cases, the lack of sufficient information makes it difficult to identify and recover them,” he said.
He said some people may have taken weapons from police stations during the unrest without having any criminal intention but may now be afraid to surrender them because of possible legal consequences.
“You leave the weapons at any one place and provide us with information. There are two pistols, one rifle, 10 magazines or bullets at that place — this much information is enough for us. We will go and collect them,” Entekhab said.
“The person who provides the information will be officially rewarded and the matter will be considered when taking legal action against him.”
The SRB has also announced that informants will receive rewards according to government rules.
Earlier, on August 29, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed announced rewards for information leading to the recovery of looted weapons.
The reward is up to Tk200,000 for information helping recover heavy weapons and up to Tk50,000 for pistols, revolvers and shotguns.
Rewards of up to Tk10,000, Tk15,000 and Tk20,000 will also be offered for information leading to the recovery of sound grenades, looted tear gas shells and other looted weapons, respectively.
The home minister said informants' identities would be kept completely confidential.
Recovery remains difficult
Former IGP Baharul Alam said recovering the remaining weapons would be difficult.
“Just because the SRB has been given the responsibility anew does not mean the weapons will be recovered. They tried before as well,” he said.
“Even though they are now being coordinated, the matter will not become easy. Recovering the looted weapons has now become even more difficult.”
Daffodil University teacher Dr Kudrat-e-Khuda said the issue was directly linked to law and order and public safety, as some looted weapons had already been used in extortion, snatching, robbery, drug trade and attacks on police.
“Until all the weapons are recovered, the risk from the August 5 looting has not completely ended,” he said.
“As time passes and the weapons change hands more frequently, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify their source and determine where they have been used.”
He said the unrecovered weapons could also be used during the upcoming local elections to establish dominance, take control of polling centers and commit other crimes.
AIG (Media and PR) of Police Headquarters AHM Shahadat Hossain said a large portion of the looted weapons had already been recovered and efforts were continuing to recover the rest.
“If anyone has any information about illegal weapons, we request them to inform the police,” he said.
