Home Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said the members of law enforcement agencies are active in recovering looted weapons to hold the 13th parliamentary election in a free and fair manner.

“We have not yet recovered the weapons looted during the 5 August 2024 unrest, but we hope to recover all of the arms before the national election,” he said while talking to reporters in Narayanganj on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the home adviser inspected the Narayanganj Police Line and the Headquarters of the Rapid Action Battalion-11 as part of his initiative to motivate law enforcers to ensure public safety, protect property and uphold national interests.

Claiming that the country’s all political parties are the main stakeholders of the election, the home adviser sought a responsible role from the countrymen, including the political leaders and activists, to make the arms recovery efforts successful.

About the law and order situation prevailing in Narayanganj, Alam said there is a huge logistical support in the area and the government will strengthen it if necessary.

About the prevailing practices in journalism, he said, no confusion will be created in the country if the journalists uphold objective journalism.

“We see that the country’s mass media are now enjoying a favourable atmosphere, with the freedom to publish all sorts of news without hindrance,” he said.

He said the home ministry always circulates true information on its website, but a group of vested quarters creates trouble to plunge the country into a crisis.

Alam said there is no contradiction between the government and the political parties and urged the political leaders to extend cooperation with the interim administration to hold the next general election in a free, fair and inclusive manner.

About the progress of the cases filed in connection with the 5 August unrest, he said the members of the law enforcement agencies are conducting investigations carefully so that no innocent people are harassed.