Armed & dangerous
Khamin reveals the illegal arms trafficking and trade that is going on within the country unabatedly
Around sunset on March 20, the company commander Major MM Shafiqur Rahman rushes out of the Tikatuli office of the Rapid Action Battalion 3 (RAB 3) with his team, in civil clothes. Their excitement was propagated by the fact that the illegal arms trading group, whose activities they have been investigating for over a month and were trying to contact to buy fire arms while posing as a group of professional killers themselves, had finally decided to sell weapons to them.
'It was quite tedious as the traders were rapidly changing locations and giving us new ones from a number of different mobiles,' says Shafiqur to Xtra later. 'Still we did not give up and held onto every possible lead,' he adds.
After half an hour on that day, Shafiqur receives a call on his phone that asks him to reach a particular Char from the Mawa ferry station by boat. 'But upon reaching the Char, we were asked to go to another Char that was a few miles away from there,' he says.
After jumping three Chars in such a manner, the traders finally decide to trade on the fourth Char. 'I asked my men to spread out discreetly on the Char while two members of the team accompanied me to the rendezvous point,' remembers Shafiqur.
At the char, a man walks up to the three and leads them to a temporary hut where the weapons were already on display. 'The man asked me how many weapons I will buy and I told him that I will buy all of them for our upcoming killing mission,' says Shafiqur, before shooting a blank and initiating the bargaining process.
'He did not come down from the fixed price of TK 15,000 per weapon,' says Shafiqur. Around this time, the RAB 3 team began shooting at the traders.
'They also opened fire on us and there was a brief fire-fight after which they fled,' says Shafiqur while adding that they recovered seven foreign revolvers and two pipe guns from the spot.
Almost a week after the RAB 3 operation, RAB 2 recovered two foreign pistols and a revolver with 22 rounds of Chinese manufactured .22 bullets, on March 27 from Jahangir who was speeding on a white X Corolla car. RAB 2 had chased the car from Adabar till Mirpur 2.
The RAB sources inform Xtra that one of the pistols was an Italian-made Berretta while the other was an Indian-made stainless steel copy of US standard pistols. Although the price of the Beretta is no less than three lakh takas with licence, it can be bought illegally at Tk 50,000.
The daily recovery of such light and heavy arms by law enforcement forces signify the growing prowess of illegal arms traders within the country, further aggravating the law and order situation. According to the law enforcement officials, most of these guns are being smuggled in through the borders while the crude ones are being made in Dholaikhal, Maheshkhali and Fatikchhari.
'Almost every day, we recover foreign pistols, revolvers and locally made pipe guns,' says Major Rezaul Hoque, a second-in-command of RAB 2 at Shere-e-Bangla Nagar. RAB sources claim that they recover around 120 to 150 illegal fire arms only in Dhaka on a monthly basis with the highest recoveries made by RAB 3 and 10.
On the other hand, RAB 7 in Chittagong and RAB 6 in Khulna usually recover heavy illegal arms such as rifles, shotguns, pipe guns and LGs as they are in high demand in these areas.
Last year, RAB recovered around 1,394 revolvers, 2,190 pistols, 15 SMG/LMG and 9 mm SMC/SMG, 2,183 pipe gun, two .303 rifles, 60 AK-47 machine guns, a T-56 rocket launcher, two M-79 grenade launchers, 42 .22 calibre bore rifles and 189 grenades across the country.
While most of the foreign illegal revolvers are copies of US-made Colt Detective Special S&W Performance Centre Model 25, the pistols are copies of German-made HK P2000 and Italian-made Beretta M951 and M951R. These guns are all manufactured in India and are smuggled into our country.
'These arms are available at very cheap prices ranging from Tk 7,000 to 10,000,' says a RAB 10 official. 'As pistols and revolvers are very small, these are easily concealed underneath the clothes they wear while crossing the border,' says Shafiqur.
'Most of the light arms also come through Lalmonirhat and Kurigram of the bordering areas,' says a senior official from the counter-terrorism cell of an intelligence agency.
the country in exchange of illegal goods smuggled out of the country,' he adds.
AB sources also inform Xtra that some hand guns are coming into the country through Myanmar. 'While the bulk comes from India, the rest come in from Myanmar,' says Shafiqur.
RAB 7 sources claim that most heavy arms coming through Myanmar have found their way from China and Laos. 'The insurgents from Myanmar buy these weapons from those countries with the money they receive from selling opium gums,' says a RAB 7 official.
He points out that the arms are then channelled into Bangladesh through buyers in Bandarban and Teknaf.
'There is an elaborate arms trading network, spread throughout Bangladesh, India and Pakistan that works for the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),' said Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque at a press meet on April 2 after arresting Shafique Mahmod alias professor Selim with arms and fake money from Mohammadpur. Police found connections between the JMB and Shafique.
Interestingly, pistols and revolvers are not smuggled much in Khulna and Chittagong as there is a high demand for rifles, 9 mm SMC and even AK-47 machine guns. These arms, mostly copies of Chinese fire arms, are smuggled into Bangladesh from the India-Bangladesh border at Khagrachhari and the Myanmar-Bangladesh border at Alikadam of Bandarban.
'These heavy arms, like AK-47 and even the Arges grenades, are smuggled into the Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) areas for the insurgent and terrorist groups in these regions,' says an intelligence official. 'They are not used at all in Dhaka city,' he adds.
A RAB 6 official of Khulna informs Xtra that the Jessore and Satkhira border points are the most lucrative for arms traffickers. 'The arms peddlers maintain a good relation with Border Security Force (BSF) who help the traffickers cross the Indian border and smuggle these illegal arms into the Bangladesh side,' he says.
LG and pipe guns, made at Fatikchhari in Chittagong and Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar are also used in Chittagong. Pipe guns are also made at the small machine factories in Dholai Khal of old Dhaka as the manufacturing process is quite easy.
'Guruk Ghata and Shaplapur hill areas at Maheshkhali of Cox's Bazar are the lucrative spots for LG and pipe gun; we had several successful arms recovery operations in these areas,' says company commander Major Syed Ali Ashfaq from RAB 7 in Chittagong.
The law enforcement sources point out that illicit arms are smuggled, stolen, black marketed, locally produced, licensed or rented. The last procedure has become extremely popular of late in the city as fire arms are required for mugging, murders and other criminal acts.
Arms traffickers use students and children as carriers while moving arms from one part of the city to the other as the law enforcement forces rarely suspect them. One such arms carrier informs Xtra that the Bhomra border point in Bangladesh and Ghoja point of India at Benapole near Jessore district are two of the most important trading points.
'We receive arms from Manjo Banarjee at Ghoja Danga in India and send it to Ajit Khowa at Bhomra in Bangladesh,' he says. 'We usually receive support from the BSF and it is easier to smuggle these arms as these are all hand guns,' he adds.
Only when there are orders from the city, these arms are carried into the city through points like Amin Bazar at Gabtali, Pallabi at Mirpur, Ashulia near Uttara and Ulan in Rampura.
Earlier, these criminal trading groups used to trade in the outskirts of the city like Mawa of Munshiganj, Aftab Nagar of Badda, Meradia at Rampura and Dakshin Khan of Uttara amongst others. However, following recent RAB operations in these areas, these arms sellers have shifted their selling spots to remote places like Char, under-construction buildings and near river shores outside the city.
A report, titled 'Small Arms Violence and Trafficking in Bangladesh: Security Implications' by Naila Husain and published in 2009, mentions that revolvers, pistols, rifles, submachine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns are some of the widely used small arms in Bangladesh. The report also suggests that in order to reduce the arms related problems, the government needs to review the prevailing Arms Act of 1878 and explosive act 1884.
Furthermore, the report urges the introduction of new laws and the enhancement of border security. However according to Detective Branch (DB) sources, the law enforcement authorities throughout the country and the borders do not have the technology and equipment with which arms smuggling can be detected and hence curbed.
Gun point
· RAB sources claim that heavy arms are coming in through Myanmar from China and Laos
· Once in, they are channelled to other parts of the country via roads in Bandarban and Teknaf
· Last year, RAB recovered around 1,394 revolvers, 2,190 pistols, 15 SMG/LMG and 9 mm SMC/SMG, 2,183 pipe guns, two .303 rifles, 60 AK-47 machine guns, a T-56 rocket launcher, two M-79 grenade launchers, 42 .22 calibre bore rifles and 189 grenades across the country
· Light arms like pistols and revolvers are coming into the country through Jessore, Satkhira, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Comilla, Netrokona, Chapainawabganj and Feni borders
· Locally made arms like LG and pipe guns from Dholaikhal, Fatikchhari and Maheshkhali are abundantly used in Chittagong by criminals
· Illicit arms are smuggled, stolen, black marketed, domestically produced, licensed or even rented
· Arms dealing occurs at Mawa in Munshiganj, Aftab Nagar of Badda, Meradia of Rampura and Dakshin Khan of Uttara
· No appropriate technology to stop illegal arms smuggling: Detective Branch (DB) sources
· Government needs to review the Arms Act of 1878 and Explosive act 1884; introduce new laws and enhance border security: report
'It was quite tedious as the traders were rapidly changing locations and giving us new ones from a number of different mobiles,' says Shafiqur to Xtra later. 'Still we did not give up and held onto every possible lead,' he adds.
After half an hour on that day, Shafiqur receives a call on his phone that asks him to reach a particular Char from the Mawa ferry station by boat. 'But upon reaching the Char, we were asked to go to another Char that was a few miles away from there,' he says.
After jumping three Chars in such a manner, the traders finally decide to trade on the fourth Char. 'I asked my men to spread out discreetly on the Char while two members of the team accompanied me to the rendezvous point,' remembers Shafiqur.
At the char, a man walks up to the three and leads them to a temporary hut where the weapons were already on display. 'The man asked me how many weapons I will buy and I told him that I will buy all of them for our upcoming killing mission,' says Shafiqur, before shooting a blank and initiating the bargaining process.
'He did not come down from the fixed price of TK 15,000 per weapon,' says Shafiqur. Around this time, the RAB 3 team began shooting at the traders.
'They also opened fire on us and there was a brief fire-fight after which they fled,' says Shafiqur while adding that they recovered seven foreign revolvers and two pipe guns from the spot.
Almost a week after the RAB 3 operation, RAB 2 recovered two foreign pistols and a revolver with 22 rounds of Chinese manufactured .22 bullets, on March 27 from Jahangir who was speeding on a white X Corolla car. RAB 2 had chased the car from Adabar till Mirpur 2.
The RAB sources inform Xtra that one of the pistols was an Italian-made Berretta while the other was an Indian-made stainless steel copy of US standard pistols. Although the price of the Beretta is no less than three lakh takas with licence, it can be bought illegally at Tk 50,000.
The daily recovery of such light and heavy arms by law enforcement forces signify the growing prowess of illegal arms traders within the country, further aggravating the law and order situation. According to the law enforcement officials, most of these guns are being smuggled in through the borders while the crude ones are being made in Dholaikhal, Maheshkhali and Fatikchhari.
'Almost every day, we recover foreign pistols, revolvers and locally made pipe guns,' says Major Rezaul Hoque, a second-in-command of RAB 2 at Shere-e-Bangla Nagar. RAB sources claim that they recover around 120 to 150 illegal fire arms only in Dhaka on a monthly basis with the highest recoveries made by RAB 3 and 10.
On the other hand, RAB 7 in Chittagong and RAB 6 in Khulna usually recover heavy illegal arms such as rifles, shotguns, pipe guns and LGs as they are in high demand in these areas.
Last year, RAB recovered around 1,394 revolvers, 2,190 pistols, 15 SMG/LMG and 9 mm SMC/SMG, 2,183 pipe gun, two .303 rifles, 60 AK-47 machine guns, a T-56 rocket launcher, two M-79 grenade launchers, 42 .22 calibre bore rifles and 189 grenades across the country.
While most of the foreign illegal revolvers are copies of US-made Colt Detective Special S&W Performance Centre Model 25, the pistols are copies of German-made HK P2000 and Italian-made Beretta M951 and M951R. These guns are all manufactured in India and are smuggled into our country.
'These arms are available at very cheap prices ranging from Tk 7,000 to 10,000,' says a RAB 10 official. 'As pistols and revolvers are very small, these are easily concealed underneath the clothes they wear while crossing the border,' says Shafiqur.
'Most of the light arms also come through Lalmonirhat and Kurigram of the bordering areas,' says a senior official from the counter-terrorism cell of an intelligence agency.
the country in exchange of illegal goods smuggled out of the country,' he adds.
AB sources also inform Xtra that some hand guns are coming into the country through Myanmar. 'While the bulk comes from India, the rest come in from Myanmar,' says Shafiqur.
RAB 7 sources claim that most heavy arms coming through Myanmar have found their way from China and Laos. 'The insurgents from Myanmar buy these weapons from those countries with the money they receive from selling opium gums,' says a RAB 7 official.
He points out that the arms are then channelled into Bangladesh through buyers in Bandarban and Teknaf.
'There is an elaborate arms trading network, spread throughout Bangladesh, India and Pakistan that works for the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),' said Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque at a press meet on April 2 after arresting Shafique Mahmod alias professor Selim with arms and fake money from Mohammadpur. Police found connections between the JMB and Shafique.
Interestingly, pistols and revolvers are not smuggled much in Khulna and Chittagong as there is a high demand for rifles, 9 mm SMC and even AK-47 machine guns. These arms, mostly copies of Chinese fire arms, are smuggled into Bangladesh from the India-Bangladesh border at Khagrachhari and the Myanmar-Bangladesh border at Alikadam of Bandarban.
'These heavy arms, like AK-47 and even the Arges grenades, are smuggled into the Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) areas for the insurgent and terrorist groups in these regions,' says an intelligence official. 'They are not used at all in Dhaka city,' he adds.
A RAB 6 official of Khulna informs Xtra that the Jessore and Satkhira border points are the most lucrative for arms traffickers. 'The arms peddlers maintain a good relation with Border Security Force (BSF) who help the traffickers cross the Indian border and smuggle these illegal arms into the Bangladesh side,' he says.
LG and pipe guns, made at Fatikchhari in Chittagong and Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar are also used in Chittagong. Pipe guns are also made at the small machine factories in Dholai Khal of old Dhaka as the manufacturing process is quite easy.
'Guruk Ghata and Shaplapur hill areas at Maheshkhali of Cox's Bazar are the lucrative spots for LG and pipe gun; we had several successful arms recovery operations in these areas,' says company commander Major Syed Ali Ashfaq from RAB 7 in Chittagong.
The law enforcement sources point out that illicit arms are smuggled, stolen, black marketed, locally produced, licensed or rented. The last procedure has become extremely popular of late in the city as fire arms are required for mugging, murders and other criminal acts.
Arms traffickers use students and children as carriers while moving arms from one part of the city to the other as the law enforcement forces rarely suspect them. One such arms carrier informs Xtra that the Bhomra border point in Bangladesh and Ghoja point of India at Benapole near Jessore district are two of the most important trading points.
'We receive arms from Manjo Banarjee at Ghoja Danga in India and send it to Ajit Khowa at Bhomra in Bangladesh,' he says. 'We usually receive support from the BSF and it is easier to smuggle these arms as these are all hand guns,' he adds.
Only when there are orders from the city, these arms are carried into the city through points like Amin Bazar at Gabtali, Pallabi at Mirpur, Ashulia near Uttara and Ulan in Rampura.
Earlier, these criminal trading groups used to trade in the outskirts of the city like Mawa of Munshiganj, Aftab Nagar of Badda, Meradia at Rampura and Dakshin Khan of Uttara amongst others. However, following recent RAB operations in these areas, these arms sellers have shifted their selling spots to remote places like Char, under-construction buildings and near river shores outside the city.
A report, titled 'Small Arms Violence and Trafficking in Bangladesh: Security Implications' by Naila Husain and published in 2009, mentions that revolvers, pistols, rifles, submachine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns are some of the widely used small arms in Bangladesh. The report also suggests that in order to reduce the arms related problems, the government needs to review the prevailing Arms Act of 1878 and explosive act 1884.
Furthermore, the report urges the introduction of new laws and the enhancement of border security. However according to Detective Branch (DB) sources, the law enforcement authorities throughout the country and the borders do not have the technology and equipment with which arms smuggling can be detected and hence curbed.
Gun point
· RAB sources claim that heavy arms are coming in through Myanmar from China and Laos
· Once in, they are channelled to other parts of the country via roads in Bandarban and Teknaf
· Last year, RAB recovered around 1,394 revolvers, 2,190 pistols, 15 SMG/LMG and 9 mm SMC/SMG, 2,183 pipe guns, two .303 rifles, 60 AK-47 machine guns, a T-56 rocket launcher, two M-79 grenade launchers, 42 .22 calibre bore rifles and 189 grenades across the country
· Light arms like pistols and revolvers are coming into the country through Jessore, Satkhira, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Comilla, Netrokona, Chapainawabganj and Feni borders
· Locally made arms like LG and pipe guns from Dholaikhal, Fatikchhari and Maheshkhali are abundantly used in Chittagong by criminals
· Illicit arms are smuggled, stolen, black marketed, domestically produced, licensed or even rented
· Arms dealing occurs at Mawa in Munshiganj, Aftab Nagar of Badda, Meradia of Rampura and Dakshin Khan of Uttara
· No appropriate technology to stop illegal arms smuggling: Detective Branch (DB) sources
· Government needs to review the Arms Act of 1878 and Explosive act 1884; introduce new laws and enhance border security: report
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