From sculptor to firearms manufacturer

Rapid Action Battalion arrested six persons, including a sculptor, and seized four pistols during a raid in Dhaka's Badda area last night.

The arrests were made on charge of manufacturing and trading firearms illegally, said Mohammad Farid Uddin, commanding officer of Rab-10.

They also recovered firearm making equipment from their possession, The Rab official said.

The arrestees are: Mokhlesur Rahman Sagar, 42, a sculptor, Tanvir Ahmed, 32, Anik Hasan, 28, Abu Yousuf Saikat, 28, Raju Hossain, 38, and Amir Hossain, 40.

Photo: Collected

The Rab official said Mokhlesur is the mastermind behind the manufacturing and trading of illegal firearms.

Spending 12 years in making sculptures in Kolkata and Assam, Mokhlesur met a manufacturer of illegal firearms named Sukumar and acquired skill of making weapons.

He later returned to Bangladesh and planned to produce and sell arms illegally with a hope of amassing wealth in a short time, the Rab CO said.

As part of his plan, he formed a gang with Tanvir, Anik and Saikat. Tanvir, who is proficient in designing CNC laser, had an expertise to precisely cut firearm components based on designs provided by Mokhlesur.

After producing the firearms, Mokhlesur and Tanvir used to give those to Anik and Saikat to sell the weapons to the illegal traders including Amir and Raju.

The pistols were sold for Tk 3 lakh each, Farid said.