The government is going to purchase 30,000 shotguns for members of the Ansar and VDP to guard polling centres during the next parliamentary elections, scheduled to be held in December this year. Ammunition for guns, various types of equipment, and motor vehicles will also be procured for Ansar and VDP members, who will guard polling centres along with member of law enforcement agencies, according to sources in the Security Service Division of the home ministry and the Bangladesh Ansar and VDP headquarters.

The Ansar and VDP authorities have already selected their six lakh members to prepare them for election duty with a view to ensuring the security of 40,000 polling centres, said the sources. The Ansar and VDP authorities would purchase 30,000 12-bore shotguns and 3,000,000 cartridges from the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited (BMTF), a state-owned enterprise run by the Bangladesh Army.

The arms and ammunition would be purchased from the BMTF under the direct procurement method (DPM) from the funds of the Ansar and VDP.

Already, the authorities concerned have prepared a proposal to purchase arms and ammunition for Ansar and VDP members. The proposal would be placed at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Purchase to be held today (Wednesday) for approval, a senior officer of the Bangladesh Ansar and VDP headquarters told The Independent yesterday.

“Arms and ammunition would be bought for the Ansar and VDP forces before the election. There is not enough time left before the national polls and that’s why the weapons should be purchased within the shortest possible time from the BMTF without inviting tender,” the officer said.

He also said they will purchase the required dresses, arms and ammunition, and motor vehicles for their members ahead of the next polls. He further said that a total of 600,000 members of the Ansar and VDP would be deployed at 40,000 polling centres across the country during the general election to ensure the security of the polling centres.

“A team comprising 12 Ansar and VDP members would be deployed at every polling centre. Two of the members would carry firearms and the rest would carry sticks to ensure the security of the polling booths,” he added.

There are about 6,000,000 members of Ansar and VDP. They include 16,000 Battalion Ansar members and 50,000 embedded Ansar members. The Bangladesh Ansar is a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for the preservation of the country’s internal security and law enforcement.