13 AK-22 rifles seized in 8 months
chittagong
ANWAR HUSSAIN, Ctg
The easy availability of AK-22 rifles has become a cause of concern for the law enforcement agencies. As many as 13 AK-22 rifles have been seized in the last eight months in Chittagong. Of these, nine were seized by the Rapid Action Battalion-7, three by the Chittagong Metropolitan Police and one by the Criminal Investigation Department of the district police between February and September. Members of various terrorist groups and even
petty criminals have easy access to the semi-automatic rifle. The district police seized two AK-22 rifles from two muggers in the Sadarghat area in the city on September 23. Security analysts and law enforcement officers believe that the Ak-22 rifle has become a favourite with terrorist groups and criminals because they are light in weight, easy to carry, make less sound when fired and ammunition is readily available in the local markets.
According to security agencies, the semi-automatic rifle is based on AK-47 and was invented in Romania. Its chambered to take in .22 calibre bullets and weighs just three kilos. The rifle was originally designed for military use and gained popularity due to its destructive power over a short range.
Terrorists and criminals prefer to use this weapon because it can be concealed very easily due to its size. Recently, the Chittagong Police recovered one such rifle from a school bag carried by a person during routine frisking.
An AK-22 rifle was first recovered in Chittagong in 2008. On August 11, the Rapid Action Battalion
recovered an AK-22 during a raid in Rauzan upazila. The second recovery was made on July 10, 2013, when the CMP sized one such rifle from the Moizzyartek area, but could not arrest the person carrying the weapon.
According to the RAB-7, the elite force recovered three AK-22 rifles on February 21 after busting a militant training camp in the remote Banshkhali hills. On April 23, the RAB-7 seized five AK-22 rifles after raiding another training camp belonging to the banned militant outfit, Shaheed Hamja Brigade.
Lt. Colonel Miftah Uddin, Commanding Officer, RAB-7, told The Independent that they managed to arrest a key supplier of weapons during the raid. Mozaher Hossain Mia, an arms dealer, used to supply weapons to the newly launched militant outfit. Based on information from Mozaher we came to know that the price of an AK-22 ranges between Tk. 3-4 lakh, said Miftah Uddin. On September 28, the RAB-7 seized another AK-22 rifle from a terrorist identified as Shahed Ullah from Sandwip upazila in Chittagong.
Earlier on August 5 when the Criminal Investigation Department of the district police nabbed a terrorist identified as Mahmudul Haque from Satkania upazila they recovered an AK-22 rifle from his residence. And on March 19, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police during a drive at the Chittagong College recovered an AK-22 from a ditch behind the college building.
We are deeply concerned with the number of recoveries and easy availability of sophisticated weapons. We came to know for the first time that petty criminals also possess AK-22 rifles, said Babul Akter, CMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch). But we are conducting drives against the trade of illegal arms and ammunitions.
Security analysts believe that these rifles might be coming into Chittagong from the insurgency-infested North-East states of India. Some insurgent groups and militant outfits are bringing in the weapons. The north-eastern states of India known as the Seven Sisters are infested with insurgency. I feel that the terrorists in Bangladesh are sourcing the sophisticated rifle from Assamese or Naga secessionist groups, said Major (retd.) Emdadul Haque, a security analyst.
