Smuggling of small firearms into Bangladesh, especially pistol and revolver, through three bordering districts has become rampant as the gunrunners have found the routes safe for their illicit trade.
The three districts are Chapainwababganj, Satkhira and Jessore.
Sources at the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told UNB small firearms, especially pistol and revolver, which are very easy to carry, are being smuggled into the country as professional criminals prefer using those for their cheaper prices.
During interrogations in DB custody, some detained gunrunners revealed the information. Among the three districts, most firearms are being smuggled into the country through different border points of Jessore, said a DB official.
According to DMP sources, a total of 59 foreign-made pistols and 19 revolvers were recovered by police from different parts of the capital in between January and July this year.
Information have it that the small firearms, reportedly manufactured in the Indian states of Bihar and Kolkata, are being smuggled into the country.
Although law enforcers, including police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), sometimes nab gunrunners and their cohorts along with consignment of smuggled arms, the local kingpins of the arms smuggling chain remain out of touch as they have links with influential political leaders, said the DB official preferring anonymity.
Intelligence sources said consignments of illegal arms through different border points — Benapole, Sharsha, Chowgachha, Satira, Debhata, Kaliganj, Kolaroa of Jessore, Moheshpur of Jhenidah, Daulatpur of Kushtia and various points of Chuadanga have shot up alarmingly in recent times.
According to the sources, illegal firearms brought by the gunrunners from India are supplied promptly to different parts of the country, including capital Dhaka.
According to information tricked down from across the border, Special Task Force (STF), Patna and Nalanda police in a joint operation unearthed a mini-gun factory at Kohna Sarai locality of Biharsharif (district headquarters of Nalanda district in the state of Bihar in eastern India) under Laheri police station and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition and equipment used in making illegal firearms early this month.
In April, Indian police unearthed another illegal mini-gun factory at Mirzapur village in Bihar’s Nalanda district.
On August 20, plainclothes police recovered one revolver, two pistols and 14 bullets and arrested three alleged gunrunners ––Shipon, 39, Palash, 22, and Rasel Miah, 22, from different areas of Dhaka city.
On June 10, they recovered 10 firearms, including seven pistols, and arrested five illegal arms traders from the capital Dhaka. On May 23, DB police recovered five pistols and one revolver and arrested five alleged illegal arms traders from different areas in Dhaka city.
On May 11, 2013 a Rab team arrested Momin and Shahidul along with one 9mm pistol from Kutipara in Chougachha upazila while Osman Kha with one pistol from Sharsha upazila of Jessore.
Besides, BGB members from Putkhali camp recovered one 9mm pistol, one shutter gun and three 303 rifles from Chhoto Achra on May 11.
On May 29, Rab-6 of Jessore camp arrested Hiru Mollah, son of Razzak of Boro Achra village, in possession of one 9mm
Source: UNBConnect