Drive for recovering looted arms tomorrow as deadline ends today

A joint operation will begin tomorrow (Sept 4) to recover stolen weapons during the attacks on police stations and units following the ousting of the Sheikh Hasina government from power.

The police headquarters has warned that legal action will be taken if the looted arms and ammunition are not returned by 3 September.

The media branch of the police released a public notice in this regard on Monday.

The notice urged anyone holding looted weapons or ammunition to submit them by the end of the day, warning that failure to comply would result in legal action.

Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs suspended firearm licenses issued to civilians over the past 15 years, with a deadline set for 3 September for the submission of these weapons.

According to the Police Headquarters, 450 police stations came under the attacks during the mass uprising. Huge number of arms and bullets were looted from the stations during the anti-discrimination student movement.

As of 31 August, police recovered 3,872 firearms, around 2.86 lakh bullets, 2,221 tear gas canisters and 2,139 sound grenades. A large number of looted arms and ammunition still remained unrecovered, said sources.