The government has imposed a ban on carrying legal firearms from December 27 to January 15 for holding the January 5 parliamentary polls.
The home ministry issued the ban order yesterday, asking private owners to surrender their firearms and ammunitions to the nearby police stations or authorised dealers before
December 27. The notice was signed by Mostafizur Rahman, joint secretary of the home ministry.
The arms and ammunitions will remain in the custody of the police stations or the dealers until January 15 as per The Arms Act 1878.
The home ministry order also said: “It is mandatory to surrender the legal firearms and ammunitions within the said period. Violation of the order will be a punishable offense.”
Members of the law enforcement agencies and the security guards of various public and private offices and installations would remain out of the purview of the order. When surrendering the arms, the owners will be given authorisation slips. By producing these slips, they will be able to get their arms back after the ban is over.
