Increased use of illegal weapons
In a recent incident a shopkeeper was shot dead in the old part of the capital and several others were injured in the same incident. On the very same day a businessman in Uttara was shot and injured. And in both these incidents the assailants took away a large sum of money that the victims had on them.
If one were to take a stock of the spate of killings in the country in recent times one would be deeply distressed by the fact that a good percentage of those killed were victims of small arms. And in all probability, the arms were all illegal.
These two incidents are fairly representative of the state of law and order in the country that the home minister would like us to believe to be better than in the last ten years. However, it would be wrong on the part of the government to dismiss these as stray incidents. Apart from the fact that these are indicative of the flux in the society they show a serious problem which the government can ignore but only at peril.
It seems that without so much as knowing it, there is a proliferation of illegal small arms that are taking tolls of lives daily. The comment of the DMP Commissioner shows exactly the lack of internalisation of the problem. While he has directed his forces to go on special drive against muggers and other criminals, what he and those above him should concentrate on is to ensure that the criminals cannot come by illegal weapons to ply their trade.
We strongly feel that there is need for a coordinated drive right from the borders to prevent entry of illegal weapons inside the country. And there have been reports that of late a large quantity of illicit weapons and drugs has been finding their way inside Bangladesh. Special drive must also be conducted against workshops producing unauthorised weapons. And the sooner the drive is conducted the better.
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