6 including police constable arrested for selling looted police weapons in Ctg

Police in Chattogram have arrested six individuals, including a police constable named Md Riad, on charges of selling weapons looted from a police station.

Five of them were arrested in the Kathgor area of Patenga on Thursday (20 March), said police. A foreign pistol and seven bullets were also recovered from the suspects.

Police detained constable Riad last week, who was serving in the Chandpur district police. He is a resident of Chattogram's Satkania who was allegedly involved in selling a pistol that was recovered from a crime scene.  

The other suspects were arrested based on the information provided by Riad, said Kotwali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Karim.

The other arrested individuals are Abdul Gani, Abu Bakkar, Farhad Hossain, Mostafizur Rahman, and Md Ishak, who are reportedly Riad's associates.

The six arrested suspects were presented before the court yesterday afternoon (21 March). Among them, Constable Riad, Abu Bakkar, and Mostafizur Rahman confessed to their involvement in the illegal arms trade before Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakkar Siddique. 

The court granted a three-day remand for Abdul Gani and Farhad Hossain for further investigation. Ishak, who did not provide a statement, has been sent to jail, said Mofiz Uddin, additional deputy commissioner (prosecution) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police. 

Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Patenga Police Station, said, "Following the recovery of the weapon and ammunition during their arrests, Kotwali Police Station Inspector Aftab Hossain filed a case at Patenga Police Station."

The case statement mentioned Constable Riad was interrogated under higher authorities' instructions, during which he admitted to long-term involvement in the illegal arms trade. 

The other five associates were arrested based on information obtained from him. A foreign pistol was recovered from Abdul Gani's possession in the Kathgor area of Patenga.

On 3 March, two individuals were killed in a mob beating in Satkania. A pistol recovered from the scene was identified as a weapon looted from the Kotwali Police Station. 

One of the deceased, Nezam Uddin, had fired the weapon. Chattogram District Police Superintendent Saiful Islam confirmed this at a press briefing on 6 March.

"Nezam used the looted weapon to fire before his death. The weapon recovered from the scene belonged to CMP's Kotwali Police Station," said Saiful. 

After the Awami League's ouster on 5 August, several police stations and outposts in Chattogram were attacked, resulting in the looting of 813 weapons and 44,324 bullets. 

Most of the looted weapons remain unrecovered.