Bangladesh Police Orders Return of Looted Arms Amid Ouster-Related Violence

Bangladesh police have ordered the return of arms and ammunition looted during recent violence that led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster. By September 3, citizens must return the weapons. The law enforcement recovered thousands of weapons and rounds of ammunition, with stringent measures in place to collect remaining firearms.

Bangladesh police on Sunday mandated the return of all arms and ammunition looted from police stations during recent violence that led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster, according to media reports.

The violence during massive quota reform protests resulted in widespread attacks on police stations nationwide, reported The Daily Star.

In a directive, the Police Headquarters demanded that looted police arms and ammunition be returned by Tuesday.

By Saturday, authorities recovered a total of 3,872 weapons from recent unrest, the report noted.

Also recovered were 286,216 rounds of bullets, 22,201 teargas shells, and 2,139 stun grenades.

The directive follows the interim government's decision to suspend firearms licenses issued during Hasina's government.

On August 26, civilians with such licenses were ordered to surrender these to their respective police stations by Tuesday, with an all-out drive to recover remaining firearms starting September 5.

More than 230 deaths occurred following the fall of Hasina's government, with death toll surpassing 600 since the anti-quota protests began in mid-July.

Hasina fled to India post-government fall on August 5.

Violence also claimed at least 43 police officers' lives, per the report.

(With inputs from agencies.)