Unrecovered firearms still at large as poll campaign begins
Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid :
The election campaign is set to begin from Thursday amid growing concern over thousands of illegal and looted firearms that remain unrecovered following political upheaval in 2024, raising fears about whether a peaceful poll can be held.
The security situation continues to cause anxiety among political parties, candidates and voters due to a number of incidents of political killings in the recent times.
The fear of illegal firearms stems largely from the mass uprising in July and August 2024 that led to the fall of the Awami League government.
During that period, many police stations and security installations were left unmanned and were subsequently attacked, resulting in a large-scale looting of state-owned weapons.
Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army General Waker-Uz-Zaman in a meeting with Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday revealed that 3,619 weapons were looted from police stations across the country during the mass uprising in 2024.
He said that 2,259 of those weapons have so far been recovered, accounting for 62.4 per cent of the total looted firearms.
The Army Chief made the remarks at a high-level meeting on the overall law and order situation in view of the upcoming election and the referendum on the implementation of the July National Charter.
General Waker-Uz-Zaman also said that a total of 456,418 rounds of ammunition were looted from police stations during the same period. Of those, 237,100 rounds, or 52 per cent, have already been recovered.
According to the Chief Adviser’s press wing, the Army Chief told the meeting that the security forces are taking various measures through mutual consultations to ease public anxiety ahead of the election.
He expressed optimism that if these steps are implemented in the coming days, it would be possible to present a peaceful election to the nation.
Although recovery operations have been underway for months, a significant number of weapons remain in circulation.
Security experts warn that these weapons are not lying idle. They say the firearms are actively circulating through criminal networks and political muscle groups and are being used to influence local power dynamics ahead of the election.
A surge in politically linked shootings in recent months has heightened these fears, particularly since the election schedule was announced in December last year.
Several high-profile killings have already taken place even before the official start of the campaign. On January 7, Azizur Rahman Musabbir, a former general secretary of the Swechchhasebak Dal’s Dhaka North City unit, was shot dead in the capital, while his associate Abu Sufian Bepari Masud was critically injured.
Earlier, on December 12, Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi was shot in Dhaka shortly after the election schedule was announced and later died from his injuries. In both cases, the attackers remain at large.
In recent months, incidents involving illegal firearms have been reported in Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Khulna, Jashore, Pabna, Gazipur and different parts of Dhaka.
These incidents have left political activists, businesspeople and ordinary citizens dead or injured, intensifying anxiety among election candidates, their supporters and voters.
According to analysts, Bangladesh has a long history of politically linked violence escalating ahead of national elections.
However, what sets the current situation apart is the increased visibility and use of firearms in conflicts that were previously dominated by crude weapons or physical force.
The recent killings have exposed what many experts describe as an uncomfortable reality: firearms are not only present but increasingly accessible in political violence.
Concerns have also been voiced directly by candidates and their supporters. A video of BNP candidate and Swechchhasebak Dal central president SM Zilani from Gopalganj-3 recently went viral on social media, showing him wearing a bulletproof vest while claiming that his life was under threat.
The interim government led by Dr Yunus now faces what many describe as a critical governance challenge: restoring the state’s monopoly on force before polling day.
Security officials say the task is complicated further by the continued inflow of illegal arms through at least 25 identified smuggling routes, particularly along the borders with India and Myanmar.
Urban centres such as Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna have already seen a rise in shootings linked to extortion, turf wars and political rivalries.
In response, the government has launched a series of high-intensity operations, including Operation Devil Hunt Phase 2, which began on December 13.
As of mid-January, the operation has resulted in nearly 20,000 arrests and the recovery of 346 firearms along with 694 locally made weapons.
Chief Adviser Dr Yunus has instructed law enforcement agencies to recover all looted arms by any means necessary before voting begins.
To bolster security in election, authorities plan to deploy 897,117 members of law enforcement agencies during the election period, including around 100,000 army personnel.
The military is operating in an aid-to-civil-power role, supporting the police and the Border Guard Bangladesh in special operations aimed at arresting troublemakers and retrieving illegal firearms.
Specialists warned that the extent of weapons recovery will be a decisive factor in determining whether a level playing field for voters can be ensured.
Many fear that if the election proceeds in an atmosphere of fear and armed intimidation, the consequences could extend far beyond a single polling day scheduled on February 12.