Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said a special police unit has been formed to recover illegal and looted weapons, with rewards of up to Tk200,000 for people who help locate them. He announced the measure on Saturday afternoon after a quarterly crime review meeting at the Rajarbagh Police Auditorium.

Ahmed said the operation has already begun with intelligence support from various agencies. He said nationwide drives are also under way to arrest extortionists and terrorists, and warned that police officers who fail to take appropriate action against them will face measures.

The minister said efforts are being made to make police a force that meets public expectations and is friendly to citizens, while improving its image and law-and-order conditions. He said police stations damaged during the July mass uprising have resumed operations and many conditions have returned to normal. However, 1,326 weapons looted from police during that period remain untraced.