, Dec. 15 -- As the national election approaches, law enforcement agencies have stepped up operations to recover illegal firearms, aiming to prevent violence, sabotage and broader security threats.

As in previous election cycles, police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and intelligence agencies are conducting special drives nationwide. Yet a critical question persists: how effective are these efforts on the ground?

The concern is sharpened by the fallout from the student-led mass uprising on August 5 last year, when 5,763 firearms were looted or went missing from police stations and other installations across the country. Of these, 4,426 weapons have since been recovered, leaving 1,337 still untraced.

A senior official at Police Headq...