The government has taken no formal decision to launch joint operations in the country, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has clarified.
Instead, coordinated activities by Police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Ansar force are a regular process continuously conducted to curb terrorism, extortion, and narcotics, and will be further strengthened in the future.
He made the remarks at a press briefing in the capital’s Tejgaon area on Thursday morning following the unveiling of the foundation stone plaque for the construction of new headquarters of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP).
Speaking at the event, Salahuddin said the long-standing desire of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP to establish its own headquarters in a well-planned and suitable location is about to be fulfilled.
The Ministry of Housing and Public Works has allocated 3.428 acres (approximately 11 bighas) of land for the construction of the Ansar force headquarters. A modern and large infrastructure will be built at Tejgaon to resolve the space constraints and accessibility limitations of the current headquarters operating from Khilgaon.
The home minister said Bangladesh currently has approximately 20,000 Battalion Ansar and 60,000 Embodied Ansar members, alongside a trained workforce of nearly 60 lakh under 35,000 VDP team leaders, making it the country’s largest force combining regular and irregular personnel.
To address housing shortages for centrally deployed Ansar members, additional dormitory and barrack accommodation facilities are being created in Ashulia and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.
Salahuddin highly praised the contribution of the Ansar force during national crises and law enforcement, including July uprising, and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fulfilling their financial and other phased demands.
Addressing accountability across law enforcement agencies, Salahuddin asserted that if negligence of duty or involvement in criminal acts is proven against anyone, they will face departmental legal action and criminal offense cases rather than mere withdrawal.
He declared unequivocally, “December is our month of victory; no evil force will be allowed to create any kind of instability in the country during this month.”
Regarding Dhaka’s traffic management, the minister noted that automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology have been introduced to streamline traffic control, enabling automated lawsuit processing and restoring discipline to vehicular movement on the roads.
Moreover, to prevent traffic congestion caused by road excavation and construction work, strict directives have been issued to complete work in sections rather than cutting entire roads at once, followed by immediate reconstruction.
Senior Secretary of the ministry Manzur Morshed Chowdhury and Bangladesh Ansar and VDP Director General Major General Abdul Motaleb Sazzad Mahmud, among others, were present at the press briefing.
