Fact Check: Bangladesh cops recover looted weapons hidden in mosque? No, find the truth here

Hyderabad: Three images showing guns and rifles and men in security uniform are going viral on social media with claims that they show weapons, hidden in Khilgaon Jama Masjid in Dhaka, being recovered.

The claims insinuate that the weapons were looted from a police station and were kept hidden in a mosque.

Sharing the images, an X user wrote, “‘From police station to mosque — the journey of looted arms.’ Weapons seized during the last #JulyRiot found in a Khilgaon mosque. One burning question remains — how did they stay hidden here for an entire year?” (Archive)

Sharing the same images another X user wrote, “Yesterday, law enforcement agencies recovered a large cache of weapons from a mosque in Khilgaon, Dhaka, #Bangladesh. These weapons were reportedly intended for use in the #JulyConspiracy to deliberately assassinate ordinary people, Awami League leaders and activists, police and law enforcement personnel, as well as to carry out terrorist attacks in Bangladesh to overthrow the elected government.” (Archive)

A post making similar claims can be seen here. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The incident took place on August 7, 2024, and the weapons were not hidden in the Imanbagh Jama Mosque.

Using reverse image searches, we found several social media posts sharing the viral images. These posts have been made in August 2024.

A Facebook post made on August 7, 2024, shared the viral images, along with other associated images, with the caption, “Over a hundred firearms looted from the Khilgaon Police Station in the capital were recovered from the Khilgaon Imambag Jame Mosque and handed over to the Bangladesh Army with the cooperation of local residents.” (Translated from Bangla) (Archive)

The post further added, “Such patriotic scholars are playing a similar role across the country in maintaining peace and order. Let the mosques across the nation become the primary tools for peace and order.” (Translated from Bangla)

Another Facebook post sharing the images about the weapons recovery credited an Islamic preacher, Mufti Imtiaz Masrur, and his followers for the gesture.

The post, also made on August 7, 2024, was captioned, “Over a hundred firearms looted from Khilgaon Police Station were recovered and handed over to the Bangladesh Army by Mufti Imtiaz Masrur, the director of Kolorob and his followers. May scholars continue to contribute to the nation’s reform in this way.” (Translated from Bangla) (Archive)

Another Facebook post with similar captions can be seen here. (Archive)

When contacted Mufti Imtiaz Masrur, the preacher at Khilgaon’s Imanbagh Jama Mosque, said that during the uprising in Bangladesh last year, Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5. During the unrest, most police stations were gutted and looted for being ‘signage of dictator.’

He further said, locals looted weapons and other equipment from the Khilgaon Police station and kept it for themselves. “But as it was very dangerous for locals to keep guns, the Jame Masjid asked everyone to surrender the weapons at the mosque. Locals followed the instructions and subsequently, the weapons were handed over to the army.”

On August 7, 2024, a Bangladeshi news website, Channel 24, published a report with the title, ‘Locals return hundreds of weapons looted from Khilgaon police station’. The report stated that on August 5, students seized more than a hundred weapons from the police, which were returned two days later. "Many locals said that the weapons were looted out of fear that the police might use them to open fire on ordinary students and the public."

Another Bangladeshi news website, Probash Time, also published a report on the same day with the title, ‘Locals return weapons looted from Khilgaon police station’. The report also mentioned that the looted arms were recovered from the Khilgaon Imanbagh Jama Mosque and handed over to the Bangladesh Army on August 7, 2024.

Therefore, it is clear that the incident took place on August 7, 2024, and the weapons were not hidden in the mosque.

NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.