Police Recover Cache of 1,500 Bullets in Chattogram Drain

A routine maintenance operation took a dramatic turn in Chattogram on Saturday afternoon after municipal workers stumbled upon a concealed cache of roughly 1,500 bullets discarded inside a roadside drain. The discovery occurred at approximately 2:00 pm near Gate 5 of the BSRM factory in the Sher Shah Bangla Bazar area, located within the jurisdiction of the Bayezid Bostami Police Station.

Sanitation staff employed by the Chattogram City Corporation were clearing accumulated silt and waste from the drainage network when they encountered a heavy, suspicious sack. Upon opening the sack, the workers were startled to find hundreds of live rounds of ammunition tightly packed together. Recognising the potential threat, they immediately suspended their work and contacted the local police.

A team from the Bayezid Bostami Police Station arrived at the scene shortly afterwards to secure the area and take custody of the armaments. Initial assessments indicate that the haul comprises approximately 120 large-calibre rounds—preliminarily identified by officers as heavy ammunition suitable for automatic assault rifles such as the AK-47—alongside more than 1,200 smaller rounds typically used in standard handguns or lighter firearms.

Speaking on the matter, Mohammad Mostafa Kamal, Inspector (Investigation) at the Bayezid Bostami Police Station, confirmed the recovery and outlined the scope of the ongoing probe. He stated that officers are actively investigating who abandoned the ammunition and for what purpose. Legal formalities and official reporting procedures have been initiated.

The seized munitions are being prepared for detailed forensic and ballistic analysis to confirm their exact specifications, origin, and usability. Ballistic examinations will help officers determine whether the batch numbers correspond to official inventories or if the rounds were smuggled into the region through illegal networks.

The Bayezid Bostami area serves as one of Chattogram’s primary industrial belts, characterized by a mix of heavy manufacturing plants, commercial enterprises, and dense residential neighbourhoods. Due to the port city’s strategic trade connections, local authorities routinely monitor industrial zones for security anomalies. Officers are currently reviewing surveillance footage from nearby commercial premises and interviewing local residents to track any suspicious activity near the drain in the hours leading up to the discovery.