A sharp rise in smuggling and illegal sales of small-arms, ahead of the national polls, has sent alarm bells ringing in the law enforcement and intelligence community in the country.
Arms trafficking syndicates, taking help fromlocal crime syndicates and advantage of administrative loopholes, are carrying on small arms trading,alarmingly, ahead
of the national polls, according to sources among police and intelligence personnel. According to intelligence sources, large numbers of illegal firearms are being
carried in to Bangladesh, from Myanmar and India, via Afghanistan and Pakistan, taking the opportunity of Bangladesh’s porous frontiers.
Deputy commissioner Masudur Rahman, of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Independent, “According to the confessional statements of recently arrested members of
arms trafficking syndicates, more than 60 gangsters are involved in small arms trading in the city.”
New makes of arms, including those of higher calibres than usually found, are now being used by criminals across the country, causing further deterioration in law and
order situation, admitted police, and even those involved in such activities.
Earlier, most of the illegal firearms used to come from South Asian countries like Myanmar, India and Pakistan, but the trend changed in the mid-’90s. Nowadays, arms
are frequently coming from the US, Belgium, China, Germany, UK, Czech Republic, Russia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
In illegal arms markets of Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, different types of Czech Republic-made 7.65-bore CZ pistols, UK-made Webley & Scott 0.32-bore revolvers
and pistols, US-made Smith & Wesson 0.38-bore revolvers and pistols, and Magnum revolver and pistols, Italy-made Beretta 7.65-bore and 9mm bore pistols and five- to
eight-round shotguns, Belgium-made 7.65 bore Browning M1900 pistols, Brazil-made Taurus 7.65 bore PT945 pistols, Bulgaria-made Arcus 9mm pistols, German Mauser 0.44
bore revolvers and 7.65 bore Luger pistols, Russian Tokarev TT pistols or Five Star pistols, Spain’s Austra 7.65 bore and 9mm pistols, Israeli Uzi sub machine guns, AK
47 rifles, AK 56 rifles, M 16 rifles, 0.22 bore rifles, 7mm Magnum and Mauser rifles. In view of the proliferation of small and light arms, police sources said that
the situation is going beyond the control of the law enforcement authorities, as influential quarters are involved in patronising gun-runners and the users of such
weapons.
A recent report, by the Bangladesh Development Partnership Centre (BDPC), citing intelligence sources, said illegal arms are being shipped in through maritime routes
from Myanmar and India.
The country’s south and south-east regions, especially Chittagong, Khagrachhari, Bandarban, Sandwip, Haluaghat and emerging char islands are often used for
transportation of illegal small arms, and it encourages the use of illegal small arms and violence across the country, the research report said.
The report also noted that some dishonest importers of old Dhaka import arms, along with imported threads, car parts, cloths, vegetables and fruits trucks, to fulfil
the demand of petty criminals.
Although the key arms traders are never identified, the petty traders are roaming freely around Dhaka, patronised by influential political godfathers and dishonest
police personnel.
Sources said that purchase of unlicensed arms has become easier nowadays, as illegal arms have flooded the local ‘underground market’. The city’s slums, hotels, and
even luxurious apartments in posh areas, are being used as safe houses by arms traders.
An army official said that smugglers drop or sell a few arms, at retail price, to local criminals.
A senior official of criminal Investigation Department (CID), preferring anonymity, told The Independent, “Recently, firearms recovered by police have been found to be
of latest version, and sophisticated. Owing to political pressure and some dishonest cops’ involvement in criminal activities, these arms are being bought by petty
criminals and also the big sharks.”
Huge number of small sophisticated firearms, ammunition, explosives, bombs and bomb-making materials and drugs are smuggled into Bangladesh from India, everyday, on an
alarming scale, according to senior officials of Rapid Action Battalion and police.
-With The Independent input
