By SM Najmus Sakib
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The Bangladesh army has arrested 2,500 people and recovered 6,000 illegal weapons since taking over magisterial power in mid-September, a senior military official said on Wednesday.
The government granted executive magistracy powers to armed forces officers ranked captain and above on Sept 17, which has helped in effectively handling critical situations such as criminal arrests, industrial unrest, and road blockades, resulting in improved law and order, said Colonel Intekhab Haider Khan at a news conference in Dhaka.
Bangladesh witnessed chaos in parts of the country following the administration changeover after a student-led uprising toppled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government on Aug. 5.
Soon after, a transitional government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took office on Aug. 8, with the military deployed throughout the country.
The empowered military launched a campaign to recover missing and illegal firearms as regular police officers fled police stations.
On Sept. 4, a joint force made up of the army, police, border security force, elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and others launched operations to recover firearms that had gone missing from police stations since Aug. 5.
Khan said the military dealt with over 600 incidents of unrest, particularly in the readymade garment sector, which is the South Asian nation's primary source of foreign currency earnings.
“Now, almost all the 2,089 RMG factories are in operation with greater safety,” said Khan.
He said the army deployment in the field would last "as long as the government wants."
Khan said the joint operations resulted in the arrest of over 700 drug dealers or people associated with drug trading.
"The military is completely aware of human rights violations or extrajudicial killings. We have certain orders and directions from the high-ups to protect human rights, and no incident of extra-judicial killing happens anyway," he assured reporters when questioned about human rights violations allegations.
Since the joint drives began, at least three people have been killed, two from the ousted Awami League party and one from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), after being allegedly detained by security forces.
According to the police headquarters, 5,829 firearms and 606,742 rounds of ammunition were looted from police stations across the country after the Hasina government resigned. Police claimed that most of them were recovered and raids continued to recover the rest.