Dhaka, Feb. 20 -- Authorities have arrested as many as 18,384 people across Bangladesh as part of "Operation Devil Hunt" - a nationwide crackdown led by joint security forces - over the course of 12 days.

In an update on Thursday, Police Headquarters reported that 492 people had been taken into custody in the past 24 hours under the initiative.

An additional 1,260 arrests were made in connection with other cases and outstanding warrants.

Law-enforcing agencies also disclosed the seizure of weapons, including pipe guns, cartridges, and bladed instruments such as machetes and ram-daos.

The government launched the operation after the residence of former Liberation War Affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque was attacked and vandalised in Gaz...