major radmilo željaja issued an ultimatum calling for all bosniak citizens to hand over their weapons to the serbian army and to declare their loyalty to the serbian republic and to respond to the mobilisation call-ups. the ultimatum issued also contained a threat that any resistance would be punished. for the most part, the civilian population complied with these requests turning in their hunting rifles and pistols as well as their permits and in the belief that if they handed in their weapons they would be safe. house searches performed by soldiers of the homes of the non-serb population were common and any weapons found were confiscated.