Police recovered 10 firearms including foreign-made revolvers and pistols in nationwide raids conducted over the past 24 hours ending at 8am on Tuesday.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, the Police Headquarters said law enforcement teams also seized around 30.5 kilograms of gunpowder, ammunition and several improvised explosive devices (crude bombs) during the drives.
During the same period, a total of 1,649 persons were arrested on various charges, the statement added.
Police said such drives will continue to curb illegal firearms, explosives and criminal activities nationwide.
DB arrested 3 in Old Dhaka with foreign pistols, drugs
Detectives have arrested three suspected criminals with three foreign-made pistols, a large cache of ammunition and narcotics during a drive in Vangari Bari area on the west side of Shyampur railway line in Old Dhaka.
The arrestees are Md Jahangir Alam Titu (36), Md Abdur Razzak Shanu (38) and Md Mamun (37).
During the raid, members of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan police (DMP) recovered three foreign pistols, three magazines, 60 rounds of ammunition, 800 pieces of yaba and 8.5 kg of cannabis, DB official Amir Khasru said at a media briefing at the DMP Media Centre in Minto Road on Monday.
During the briefing he said, the trio were ‘notorious criminals and drug dealers’ who used firearms to maintain control over local drug spots, which they referred to as wholesale hubs.
They created a reign of terror in the area and used these weapons to run their narcotics trade and conduct criminal activities, he said.
He added that investigators will examine whether the recovered firearms are among those looted from law enforcement during the August 5 uprising.
The DB official further said that the suspects tortured associates who attempted to leave the illegal trade. “We have identified victims who faced physical and mental torture for refusing to cooperate,” he added.
