The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has sent a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking the purchase of bullet-resistant vehicles for its VIP unit, which is responsible for giving protection to high-profile leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda and the Gandhi family.
According to sources, a total of 23 bullet-resistant vehicles will be purchased by the CRPF if the ministry clears the proposal. Currently, the unit is struggling with “arranged” vehicles that are old and have their limitations.
Sources said multiple meetings have been held on the issue and it is likely that the Home Ministry will clear the proposal for a new lot of vehicles for the VIP unit.
“Our current bullet-resistant vehicles have many limitations. The vehicles we have are front-seated, not central-seated from a security point of view so protectees remain hesitant in using our vehicles. They are old and not specially purchased for this purpose. Protectees prefer state-provided vehicles. That is why a proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs to buy 23 new bullet-resistant vehicles,” a senior CRPF official said.
According to sources, the purchase is intended to make the CRPF less dependent on states during protectee visits.
“The visiting state must provide bullet-resistant vehicle to the protectees. There have been many instances where states either didn’t provide the vehicle or showed helplessness in giving transfers in bullet-resistant vehicles. If we have our bullet-resistant vehicles, we can deploy them at multiple points and they can be used in case of non or late availability of the vehicles,” another senior official said.
Sources also confirmed that the force is keen to by full-size SUVs instead of entry-level SUVs as the former are more reliable in tough terrains.
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