CM Bhagwant Mann says no to 'Z-plus' security cover in Punjab & Delhi

CM Bhagwant Mann says no to 'Z-plus' security cover in Punjab & Delhi

The MHA had on May 25, announced the Z plus security cover to Mann and said that the same would be given by a Central agency and the Punjab police would not be allowed to provide him the same.

Rajesh MoudgilUpdated: Thursday, June 01, 2023, 11:59 PM IST
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CM Bhagwant Mann says no to 'Z-plus' security cover in Punjab & Delhi | File photo

Chandigarh: The Punjab government has conveyed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann does not require the CRPF component of the Z plus security while he is in Punjab or Delhi and that he would need the same only while he is outside these two states. Pertinently, Delhi and Punjab have Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments.

According to information, Mann has refused to accept the said cover saying he has confidence in the state police.

Sources: Mann does not have confidence in the Punjab police

The development comes after the MHA had on May 25, announced the Z plus security cover to Mann and said that the same would be given by a Central agency and the Punjab police would not be allowed to provide him the same.

Sources in the Punjab police said that the decision to refuse Z plus cover in Punjab and Delhi would have also, thus conveyed the message that Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, does not have confidence in the Punjab police.

However, the Punjab government has said to the MHA that while the chief minister Mann is well protected in the state, a dual responsibility by different agencies – CRPF - could lead to different chains of commands leaving scope for mistakes.

The Centre, on the other hand, had included Mann in the category of persons having the highest security cover in the wake of possible threats in the country and abroad. Punjab, aside from being a state bordering Pakistan has also seen killings of a large number people and even an assassination of a chief minister during days of terrorism by radical elements in the past.

Meanwhile, according to media reports, Mann has a security cover comprising about 1,200 personnel protecting him and his family in Punjab as well as in Delhi.

Threats:

The refusal for the highest cover for the chief minister notwithstanding, the fact remains that it was recommended by the central agencies in the wake of threat perception analysis also because of the radical elements’ activities, besides gangsterism, in the border state.

It was on May 9 last year – Mann-led AAP government had taken over in March, 2022 only, when a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at the state police intelligence headquarters in Mohali.

Then, it was on May 29 last year, when the brutal killing of popular singer Sidhu Moosewala shook the state. Even though the police has nabbed several members of notorious gangsters, the singers’ parents doubt real culprits are still not booked.

In recent past also, there have been targeted killings, including one Pardeep Singh, a follower of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda and the Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri, both in November, 2022, which jolted the state raising serious questions on the law and order situation in Punjab.

Also, even though, self-styled radical preacher Amritpal Singh, 30, and several of his close aides, has been nabbed by the police in April, 2023, it was in February this year that he had stormed a police station in Amritsar along with hundreds of his supporters demanding release of one of his aides and injured several police personnel.

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