New Delhi, July 23 : The Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday issued an order on revision of security of several VIPs, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan.
According to the notification, the names of Lalu, Rudy and Uttar Pradesh Minister Suresh Rana have been removed from the central list of leaders protected by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The CRPF security cover of Chirag Paswan has also been withdrawn and security has been downgraded to Y, reported news agency ANI.
Security cover provided to the following people has been revised by Ministry of Home Affairs: Lalu Prasad Yadav, UP Minister Suresh Rana, BJP MP RP Rudy have been removed from Central list (CRPF protectees). LJP MP Chirag Paswan’s CRPF cover withdrawn&security downgraded to ‘Y.’
This comes hours after news agency IANS reported that the Centre has decided to withdraw the Z+ security cover of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.
The decision on security review of the leaders was reportedly taken after a comprehensive review of the VIP protectees, under the umbrella of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The review was conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Akhilesh was accorded the top category VIP security in 2012 during the UPA regime at the Centre. A team of about 22 NSG commandos, armed with sophisticated weapons, had been deputed with Akhilesh as part of his security cover.
According to the report, the Home Ministry took the decision on the basis of threat perception reports by central and state intelligence agencies. It further said that the security cover of at least two dozen other VIPs has also been either withdrawn or scaled down.
