M4 carbine, Taurus pistol among firearms stolen from HSIA cargo vault

Seven firearms – including a US-made M4 Carbine rifle and a Brazilian Taurus pistol – are allegedly missing from a secure vault at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport following a major fire at the cargo complex earlier this month, raising serious concerns about airport security.

According to a General Diary (GD) filed with the Airport Police Station on October 28 by Jamal Hossain, Assistant Manager (Security) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the weapons were discovered missing after the vault in the burnt-out cargo complex was found unlocked and breached. 

Of the 21 firearms originally stored in the strongroom, 14 have since been recovered – leaving seven unaccounted for.

Notably, authorities have not yet filed a formal case regarding the alleged theft, despite the high-risk nature of the missing arms. It remains unclear which agency or force the weapons belonged to.

In the GD, Jamal Hossain stated that the cargo – including the firearms – was officially inventoried on October 24 at 3:15 pm in the presence of senior officials, including Customs Deputy Commissioner Neyamul Haque, Biman’s GM (Cargo) Nazmul Huda, NSI Additional Director Firoz Rabbani, and Civil Aviation Authority Director Iftekhar. The vault was sealed with a chain and locked in their presence.

However, on the morning of October 28, Biman security informed Jamal that the vault door was found unsecured. Upon inspection, he confirmed that the lock was missing. “No seal or lock was present on the vault door when I arrived at the scene,” he wrote.

Airport Police Station Officer-in-Charge Taslima Akhter confirmed the GD is under investigation but offered no further details.

The incident follows a devastating fire at the airport’s import cargo complex on October 18, which took 27 hours to fully extinguish. The blaze had already triggered scrutiny of Shahjalal Airport’s security protocols under the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) framework. The subsequent breach of a secured arms vault has now intensified concerns about systemic vulnerabilities.

Responding to media queries after a Law and Order Core Committee meeting at the Home Ministry on Tuesday, Home Affairs Advisor Lieutenant General (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said, “We will be able to confirm after the investigation whether the weapons were indeed stolen. If theft occurred, those responsible – regardless of position – will be brought to justice. At this stage, we cannot confirm how many weapons are missing.”

Authorities are under mounting pressure to clarify the chain of custody of the firearms and explain how a high-security vault could be compromised in the aftermath of a major fire – especially in a critical national infrastructure zone.

The disappearance of military-grade weapons like the M4 Carbine – a standard-issue rifle in many armed forces – has alarmed security experts, who warn of potential risks if the arms fall into the wrong hands.