Personnel from the 14 Armed Police Battalion (APBn) have arrested a Rohingya man and seized a cache of locally manufactured firearm components and tools during an operation in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar. The detainee, identified as 28-year-old Nurul Amin, was apprehended on Thursday morning after raising the suspicion of officers on routine patrol.
The incident occurred at approximately 11:30 am on 12 November in Block G/7 of the Nicher Bazar area, located within the Ambagan section of Refugee Camp-1 East. According to 14 APBn sources, a patrol team attached to the Lambashia Police Camp noticed a man walking through the market carrying a laptop bag. His nervous demeanour quickly drew the attention of the officers. When law enforcement personnel signalled for him to halt for questioning, the suspect attempted to flee on foot. Officers swiftly gave chase and detained him on the spot.
Following the arrest, police conducted a thorough search of the laptop bag in the presence of local witnesses. Inside, they discovered six barrels designed for locally made light guns (LGs), each measuring roughly 14 inches in length. Alongside the finished barrels, officers recovered four cut sections of stainless steel piping and six metalworking files commonly used to shape and assemble improvised weapons. Subsequent questioning revealed that Nurul Amin is the son of Md. Halil and Nur Jahan, residing in Block D/5 of the neighbouring Camp-2 West.
The recovery of raw materials alongside completed barrels points toward clandestine, small-scale weapons manufacturing operating within the densely populated settlements. Disguising contraband inside everyday items such as a laptop bag highlights the tactics used to evade routine security checks. Across the sprawling refugee camps in Ukhiya, which house hundreds of thousands of displaced Rohingya nationals, the APBn maintains continuous surveillance to curb illegal arms proliferation and dismantle criminal networks.
Confirming the operation in a press release issued at around 9:00 pm on Thursday, Mohammad Siraj Amin, Commander of the 14 APBn and Additional Deputy Inspector General of Police, stated that both the suspect and the confiscated equipment remain in police custody. Necessary legal proceedings are currently underway to file formal charges and determine whether the detainee was acting alone or supplying a wider network inside the camps.
