DHAKA, Aug 27, 2026 (BSS) - Police have arrested 53,518 people in a nationwide special operation conducted over nearly four months as part of intensified efforts to curb crime and maintain law and order.

According to a police press release issued today, the arrests were made between May 1 and August 26.

During the same period, another 141,628 people were arrested in separate cases and operations, taking the total number of arrests to 195,146.

The nationwide crackdown also led to the recovery of a large quantity of illegal firearms, ammunition, explosives and locally made weapons.

Police recovered 438 firearms, 4,722 rounds of bullets and cartridges, 165 magazines, 65 cocktails, more than 2.25 kilograms of gunpowder, 893 locally made weapons, 71 firearm components and 21 tools used to manufacture weapons and bombs. They also seized 10,300 chocolate crackers.

The recovered firearms included 153 pistols, 108 guns, 48 shooter guns, 45 LGs, 26 revolvers, 26 pipe guns, seven shotguns, seven rifles, three SMGs, 12 air guns and one pen gun.

The operation also resulted in the seizure of more than 1.4 crore yaba tablets, 10,732 packets of heroin, 30,427 bottles of phensidyl, 13,865 bottles of foreign liquor, 560 bottles of local liquor and 12,053 packets of cannabis, along with other narcotics.

Police said 23,221 cases were filed over the narcotics seizures, resulting in the arrest of 34,043 people.

The figures highlight the scale of the ongoing nationwide campaign against crime, illegal arms and drug trafficking, with police continuing coordinated operations to strengthen public security and maintain law and order.