Firearms Allegedly Made and Advertised on Facebook, Sold Through WhatsApp

Allegations have surfaced of firearms being manufactured and sold through social media. According to the report, buyers were sought through advertisements on Facebook, while communication and dealings over the sales took place on WhatsApp.

The illegally made firearms were allegedly promoted behind the cover of ordinary-looking posts, so that they would not be easily recognisable from the outside. Interested buyers would then move to WhatsApp to learn the details, the report said.

This pattern of illegal arms trading through social media has emerged as a new challenge for law enforcement. Because online platforms are used instead of open markets or familiar channels, such trade becomes comparatively harder to detect.

If weapons are promoted through advertisements on a platform like Facebook, they can also come to the attention of ordinary users. That raises questions not only about buyers and sellers, but about the safety of the wider online environment.

With communication shifting to an encrypted messaging app such as WhatsApp, collecting evidence of the transactions also becomes more complicated, those concerned believe. Verifying digital evidence therefore becomes crucial in cases involving such allegations.

Manufacturing and selling illegal firearms is a serious offence under Bangladeshi law. If such weapons are used in criminal activity, they can pose a major threat to public safety.

Law enforcement agencies regularly conduct drives to recover illegal arms across the country, including in Sylhet Division. But for online-based trade, identifying an entire network is difficult without technological surveillance and cooperation from the platforms.

Further details of the allegation — who was involved, where the weapons were made, and whether anyone has been arrested — were not immediately known. Any official statement from the authorities will be reported when it becomes available.