A major election threat Police weapons looted in July – bullets!

A significant portion of firearms looted from police custody in July last year remains unaccounted for, raising serious security concerns ahead of the forthcoming national election scheduled for 12 February. Despite the government announcing monetary rewards on 10 August to encourage the recovery of missing weapons, progress has been minimal. Meanwhile, the circulation of illegal firearms within the criminal underworld appears to be increasing, prompting concern among law enforcement agencies and security analysts that these weapons could fuel pre-election violence, political intimidation, and organised crime.

The alarm intensified following the assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi, convener of the Inqilab Mancha and potential election candidate, who was shot dead on 12 December in Dhaka’s Motijheel area. Ten days later, on 22 December, internal party conflict led to the shooting of Motaleb Shikdar, a regional leader of the National Citizens Party and organiser of the National Labour Force, in Khulna’s Sonadanga. Over the past 14 months, more than 500 killings linked to illegal firearms have been recorded across at least 20 districts, including Jessore, Chattogram, Khulna, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Bogura and Pabna.

Dr Touhidul Haque, Associate Professor at the Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka, remarked that many of the stolen police weapons are believed to have found their way into criminal networks. Some arms are reportedly being rented out for criminal operations. “Such conditions enable armed groups to destabilise the environment and potentially obstruct a fair electoral process,” he warned.

Following public concern, the Home Ministry offered substantial rewards for information leading to the recovery of stolen weapons: Tk 5 lakh for each light machine gun (LMG), Tk 1.5 lakh for a sub-machine gun (SMG), Tk 1 lakh for a Chinese rifle, Tk 50,000 for pistols or shotguns, and Tk 500 per round of ammunition. At that time, police reported 1,375 missing firearms and 257,849 rounds of ammunition.

Yet progress remains slow. Between August and November, only 35 firearms and 190 rounds of ammunition were recovered—leaving over 1,340 weapons and nearly 258,000 bullets still missing. Reports suggest that some guns have changed hands multiple times, been sold to criminal groups, or possibly dumped into water bodies to avoid detection.

Status of Missing and Retrieved Arms

In anticipation of possible unrest during the elections, the government has halted the issuance of new firearm licences. However, around 45 licences were nonetheless issued by the Dhaka District Administration after 5 August 2024. From 2009 to July 2024, the previous government issued nearly 17,200 firearm licences. The interim administration later suspended them and ordered that weapons be surrendered by 3 September. A total of 13,340 were submitted, but 3,860 remain unreturned—now classified as illegal by the Home Ministry.

Recently, 1,177 licences were cancelled, most belonging to politicians and businessmen affiliated with the ruling party. The highest revocations occurred in Dhaka (796), followed by Pabna (141), Chattogram (73), Jessore (66), Sylhet (63) and Cox’s Bazar (38). Authorities claim some licence holders have fled the country, gone into hiding, or reported theft during past unrest. Several notable political figures failed to return their weapons before the deadline.

With a large volume of weapons still in circulation, analysts fear the situation could pose a serious challenge to maintaining law and order during the election period. The coming weeks will test how effectively security agencies can curb the spread of illegal arms and prevent them from influencing the democratic process.