Licensed arms have to be submitted by Dec 3

The home ministry yesterday asked all to submit their licensed firearms to respective police stations across the country between November 20 and December 3.
The small firearms will be in government custody until January 5, 2009, in order to keep the ninth parliamentary elections and upazila elections, scheduled for December 18 and December 28, violence free.
The decision was made during a meeting of the advisory committee on law and order held at the home ministry with Home Adviser MA Matin in the chair.
No new firearms licences would be issued to any individual until the elections are over and the sale of all types of firearms and ammunition will be suspended until further notice. Arms dealers and traders will have to seal-off their firearms and ammunition and send a list of their stock to the home ministry, said the home secretary.
Banks and financial institutions, however, are exempted from the order considering their security.
From November 20, carrying arms will be banned till January 5, except for security workers of financial institutions including banks, Home Adviser Abdul Karim told reporters after the meeting.
Around 2 lakh licences for firearms have been given but there are only 1.24 lakh firearms against those licences. Among the licensed firearms 17,000 are pistols and revolvers.
Law enforcement agencies would be deployed according to the demand of the Election Commission (EC), Karim said.
Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff, Inspector General of Police Nur Mohammad, Rab Director General Hasan Mahmud Khandker and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner were also present at the meeting.
Yesterday's law-and-order meeting asked different intelligence agencies to intensify their vigilance along the border to prevent infiltration of criminals into the country ahead of the elections.
The EC will hold a meeting at the EC Secretariat today to discuss matters regarding law and order ahead of the national and upazila polls.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda will chair the meeting. Principal staff officer, home secretary, inspector general of police, director generals of Bangladesh Rifles, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Ansar, Coastguards and National Security Intelligence and DGFI and additional inspector general of police of Special Branch (SB) are expected to attend the meeting.