Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had decided to remove the Special Protection Group (SPG) from former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh's security, said an NDTV report.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that a review of the present security cover is a “periodical and professional exercise based on threat perception that is purely based on professional assessment by security agencies.” The former prime minister will continue to have a Z+ security cover, the statement added.
According to NDTV, the SPG will now be tasked with guarding only four people -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. "The current security cover review is a periodical and professional exercise based on threat perception that is purely based on a professional assessment by security agencies. Dr Manmohan Singh continues to have a Z+ security cover," the MHA told ANI.
The SPG has over 3,000 personnel. Based on threat perception, the special group covers Prime Ministers as well as former Prime Ministers and their families. The SPG has over 3000 personnel deputed from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).