Government Approves Procurement of 17,050 New Shotguns for Ansar and VDP

Reading Time: 2 minutes The government has approved a major procurement proposal to acquire 17,050 new 12-bore shotguns for the Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP), marking a significant step towards replacing the auxiliary force’s ageing small arms inventory and restoring frontline effectiveness. The approval was granted on Tuesday during a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase at the Bangladesh Secretariat. Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, who chaired the meeting, stated that the firearms currently used by Ansar and VDP have become “very old”, making replacement both urgent and unavoidable. Dr Salehuddin emphasised that the government had secured a cost-effective price for the new weapons, following a competitive evaluation process. “We will procure around 17,000 12-bore shotguns for Ansar and VDP as the existing ones have become very old. The price we are getting is cost-effective and we found the purchase to be economically viable, so it