Delhi Police cuts security cover for some VVIPs, spare others

The Union Home Ministry, which is in charge of VIP security, is, however, yet to be informed of the changes brought about by the city police.

Two personnel have been withdrawn from Abdul Kalam’s security cover. The others in the list of affected Z+ protectees include Arjun Singh (he has been deprived of eight officials), S B Chavan, Indrajit Gupta, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Rajesh Pilot, Matang Singh, Jagdish Tytler, Buta Singh, BhajanLal, H K L Bhagat and Mufti Mohammed Syed.

In the category of VIPs enjoying Z category security, nine officials attached with the former Civil Aviation Minister C M Ibrahim have been withdrawn while three have been taken back from the CPM’s Harkishen Singh Surjeet. Other affected VIPs in this category are Maqbool Dar, Ghulam Rasool Kar, B S Ramoowalia, O P Sharma (currently Nagaland Governor, the police security is provided to him only in Delhi) and K Padmanabhaiah.

But the security of at least seven Z+ category VIPs remains unchanged. They include Union Home Minister L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Singhal, M S Bitta and Sajjan Kumar.

The Delhi HC recently gave the State Government a rap on its knuckles for diverting a big chunk of the city police force to VIP duties and ensuring that the criminals had a field day. Following the adverse remarks, the Delhi Police its officials form a part of the security cover for the protected VIPs in both Z+ and Z security removed a numberof its men from the VIP deployment.

Lieutenant Governor Vijay Kapoor, it is learnt, took an active interest in the matter and asked the police to stick to its primary job of making the city crime-free and its residents more secure.

Commissioner of Delhi Police V N Singh justified the decision and held that the process had begun a few days before the Court’s observation. “We have tried to ensure that the quality of security is not affected but at the same time the excess manpower attached to the individual is pruned,” he told The Indian Express.

A senior Home Ministry official explained that whittling down or stepping up a VIP security was an ongoing process depending on several factors, the most important being the ever-changing threat perception of the individual. Echoing the stand, Singh added that the security cover of an individual VIP changed its composition regularly.

But no more immediate changes would be made for the recently affected VIPs, at least in the present scenario, he said.