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Due to the lack of proper control, a class of licensed arms dealers are importing military-grade semi-automatic weapons in the name of rifles.
Referring to the role as a rifle, they are selling 22-gauge semi-automatic weapons to licensed buyers. These weapons, called ‘Uzi pistols’, look a lot like machine guns. Not like a rifle or a pistol.
Wazir’s magazine has 20 bullets. The pistol in the hands of law enforcement officers has 15 bullets.
The Detective Division (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said in a report on irregularities in the import of weapons into the country.
The report was presented yesterday to the DMP and the police headquarters.
The report said that if those weapons were in the hands of the people, the situation of law and order in the country could be compromised.
The Guns Act 2017 prohibits the importation of automatic or semi-automatic weapons into Bangladesh.
The way the matter arose
According to intelligence officials, a drug dealer named Minal Sharif was arrested in the Mohammadpur area of the capital on August 20. A search of his vehicle found a foreign liquor and a licensed Point 22 caliber rifle.
After the investigation, the police learned that Minal had purchased the weapon from a licensed dealer for Rs 4.5 lakhs.
Subsequently, the detective police kept a general diary on the matter and, with the permission of the court, sent the weapon to the experts for their opinion.
According to a DB police report, weapons experts say that buying and selling a semi-automatic ‘Uzi’ with a license for a 22-caliber rifle is completely illegal.
The report said: “The Uzi pistol is a military grade weapon. This weapon is used by the Belgian and Israeli armies. This weapon is used for the security of the VVIPs.
The Daily Star has a copy of this report.
Arms imports
The DB report further stated that of the 84 authorized arms dealers in the country, only 14 dealers import arms directly from abroad.
In response to DB’s letter, six dealers said they had imported 91 Uzi in the name of rifles since 2015. Of these, 49 guns have been sold to various licensees.
Moin Arms Co. of Dhaka Paltan, one of six distributors, imported 20 Uzi rifles and 10 Uzi pistols. According to the report, the pistols have already been sold.
“The Uzi pistol is a kind of rifle,” company owner Moin Iqbal told the Daily Star. According to him, the smaller version of the rifle is called a pistol.
When asked why he had written a “gun” on the gun, he said, “It’s a label.”
He said: “If this business is not legal, how did the customs department deliver the weapons? International exporters are doing this business. We pay taxes. We comply with all firearms import rules and regulations.
According to him, “the police are making false accusations. Not only will it ruin our business, it will send a negative message to international arms exporters.
Arun Kumar Biswas, additional commissioner of the Internal Audit and Customs Valuation Commissioner in Dhaka, told the Daily Star: “If the importation of firearms had been prohibited under the Arms Act, it is possible that they would not have entered the country at all. way”.
He did not agree to say more than that.
In the investigation report, the police promptly confiscated all imported “Uzi pistols” and requested that they be turned over to law enforcement. According to the police, these weapons could pose a threat if they fall into the hands of militants or criminals.
According to the police report, there are no weapons specialists in the customs department or the deputy commissioner’s office. Therefore, weapons experts must be present at the customs department when granting concessions.
Golam Mostafa Russell, deputy police commissioner of detectives in the Tejgaon division, told the Daily Star that they had already filed an investigative report on the importation of Uzi semi-automatic pistols.
We will also send a letter to the customs authorities regarding the import. We are now investigating how these automatic weapons entered the country and who is using them.
