A load-tested 9mm semi-automatic pistol, along with two fully loaded magazines containing 20 rounds of live ammunition, has been recovered from a prominent mosque in Narayanganj’s Araihazar sub-district. Preliminary police investigations confirm that the firearm was amongst the arsenal looted from Araihazar Police Station during the widespread mass civil unrest in July and August 2024.
The discovery was made on Saturday, 12 September, when Nasir Uddin, the muezzin of the Araihazar Bazaar Mosque, was attending to his daily duties on the second floor of the building. Whilst inspecting the wooden shelves designated for storing copies of the Holy Koran on the southern side of the prayer hall, he spotted the abandoned weapon wrapped and left unattended. Recognising the potential danger, the muezzin promptly secured the firearm and ammunition before personally delivering them to the local authorities.
Upon arriving at the police facility, Nasir Uddin handed over the armaments directly to the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Araihazar Police Station, Md Sabjel Hossain. Senior police officials commended the muezzin’s swift actions, which prevented the dangerous weapon from falling into criminal hands or causing accidental harm within a place of worship.
Speaking on the incident, Sub-Inspector (SI) Shafiul Islam verified that the recovered 9mm pistol matches the serial records of arms stolen from the police station during the violent uprising two years prior. The summer 2024 anti-government demonstrations saw numerous law enforcement facilities across the country targeted, resulting in substantial loss of official equipment, firearms, and munitions. Since then, security forces have maintained continuous operations to trace and retrieve missing state-issued weaponry.
Officers at Araihazar Police Station confirmed that standard legal procedures regarding the recovered armaments are currently underway. Further forensic checks will be conducted on the weapon before it is formally re-entered into the official police inventory. Law enforcement agencies continue to appeal to the public to report or surrender any unaccounted arms linked to the historical unrest.
