The police have initiated the procurement of 35 lakh shotgun bullets, 3.22 lakh tear gas shells and sound grenades, and 30 pieces of sniper rifles in the final year of the Awami League government’s third consecutive term when the Election Commission is preparing to hold national elections in January next year.
Starting in March, the police headquarters floated a number of tenders to procure those arms, ammunition, and riot control items, according to documents from the home and planning ministries.
The document showed that authorities approved the visit of several officials to Turkey for the procurements.
A home ministry order dated August 9 showed the visit of a three-member team, led by additional deputy inspector general of the police bureau of investigation Walid Hossain, was approved for a factory inspection in Turkey to procure 10,000 pieces of shotgun bullets.
Another home ministry order dated August 29 showed that the visit of another three-member team, led by joint secretary Dhananjoy Kumar Das, was approved for a factory inspection in Turkey to procure 20,00,000 pieces of shotgun bullets.
The police headquarters officials said that they generally procure bullets from Turkey and Brazil and equipment mainly from South Korea.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told New Age that the procurement was not related to election preparation but was routine procurement for police units.
He claimed that many items see their tenure expire, so the police need to procure them from time to time to fill up the inventory.
Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said that the government was equipping law enforcement agency members fully ahead of the elections. He observed that this was an indication of the government’s fear of poll-time ‘violence’.
On March 23, the police headquarters initiated the procurement of 30 pieces of 7.62mm sniper rifles.
On May 3, the police headquarters initiated the procurement of 6,00,000 rounds of 9x19 mm blank cartridges and 20,000 pieces of tear gas and hand grenades.
On May 8, it initiated the procurement of 90,000 pieces of 38-mm long-range tear gas shells and 60,000 pieces of 38-mm tear gas shell 3-projectiles.
In the same tender, the headquarters also intended to procure 7,00,000 pieces of 12-bore lead ball shotgun cartridges and 15,00,000 pieces of 12-bore rubber ball shotgun cartridges within 120 days.
On July 13, police headquarters initiated the procurement of 10,00,000 pieces of 12-bore shotgun cartridges with rubber balls and 1,00,000 pieces of 38-mm long-range tear gas shells.
At the same time, the authorities initiated the procurement of 30,000 pieces of sound grenades, 15,000 pieces of multi-impact tear gas grenades, and 7,000 pieces of flash bangs, better known as stun grenades.
In March, rights group Amnesty International stated that police’s use of rubber bullets and other projectiles against peaceful protests has become increasingly routine worldwide, including in Bangladesh, leading to many casualties.
In its report, the London-based rights group called for strict controls on the use of rubber bullets and other projectiles and a global treaty to regulate the trade in those.
Amnesty International’s digital verification corps analysed 300 photos and videos, finding 75 incidents of the problematic use of kinetic impact projectiles in more than 30 protests worldwide, including in Dhaka.
Between January 2022 and mid-March 2023, the Bangladesh Police procured 41 lakh shotguns and blank cartridges, 1.96 lakh teargas shells, and 54,000 sound and colour-spoke grenades.
On March 2, the police headquarters floated a tender for the procurement of 20 lakh 12-bore shotgun cartridges (rubber balls), while another tender was floated on January 25 for the procurement of 1.1 lakh 38-mm teargas shells or 86,000 pieces of 38-mm teargas shells.
A third tender was floated on January 23 for the procurement of 15 lakh 12-bore shotgun cartridges (lead balls) and 6 lakh 9x19mm blank cartridges.
A police officer told New Age that they have enough lethal bullets in their inventory but need more non-lethal items. ‘Procurement depends on threat assessment,’ said the official.
In 2018, months before the national elections on December 30, the police procured 5,000 pieces of 9-mm pistols, 3,000 pieces of 9-mm pistols for ‘special operation,’ and 6,000 pieces of 12-bore shotguns, bulletproof jackets, sound grenades, ammunition, location finder equipment, backpack mobile trackers, and prison vans.
In a letter dated December 27, 2022, United Nations experts demanded a credible investigation into the use of excessive and lethal force against protesters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party between July and September 2022.
In May this year, the police headquarters also started procuring a lot of armoured vehicles with mine protection capability and a multi-purpose ambulance, among others.
Md Moniruzzaman, assistant inspector general (arms and ammunition) at the police headquarters, who is supervising the procurement, could not be reached for comment.-New Age
