Staff Correspondent:

In a ground-breaking move to reform law enforcement, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury announced Monday that Bangladesh’s police will no longer carry deadly weapons, with all such firearms to be surrendered.

The directive, issued after a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Law and Order at the ministry, marks a seismic shift in policing, aiming to reduce lethal encounters and rebuild public trust.

“We’ve made a clear decision: no more deadly weapons in the hands of the police,” Chowdhury declared, emphasising that only the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), tasked with specialised duties, will retain such arms.

The policy, affecting thousands of officers nationwide, responds to growing concerns over police use of force, particularly in urban centres like Dhaka, where protests and unrest have spotlighted law enforcement tactics.

Implementation poses challenges. Surrendering weapons will require retraining officers in non-lethal methods, such as tasers or batons, and ensuring the Armed Police Battalion’s role is clearly defined.