LUCKNOW: In a departure from its earlier stand, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to reinstate 'Z' security cover to senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shivpal Yadav.
Yadav used to avail 'Z' security during his stint as a cabinet minister in the previous SP government. His security cover was downgraded to ‘Y’ category last month after Yogi Adityanath from BJP took over as the chief minister. The senior SP leader had then met the CM and had reportedly asked to reinstate his security cover as he suspected that his life was in danger.
Consequently, the police security wing is believed to have written to Deepak Kumar, SSP of Lucknow, apprising him of the state government's decision and asked him to upgrade the SP leader's security cover back to 'Z' category for the interim period till the next meeting of state security committee.
The state government has also decided to upgrade the security cover of cabinet minister for urban development and parliamentary affairs Suresh Khanna. Khanna is an eight-time BJP MLA from Shajahanpur and he was a strong contender for the CM’s post in UP. Sources said the state government has decided to upgrade the security cover of the two leaders following intelligence inputs hinting at a threat perception.
Just a month ago, the UP government had downgraded the security cover of a number of leaders including former CM Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, SP MP Dimple Yadav and former urban development minister Azam Khan. The decision to slash the VVIP security was taken last month at a meeting of the state security committee comprising DGP Sulkhan Singh, ADG (intelligence) and ADG (security) last month. It was also decided to upgrade security of BJP RS member Vinay Kaityar to ‘Z' category.
Security Categories:
Z Plus category: 10 NSG commandos with a cover of 36 security personnel
Z category: 4-5 NSG commandos with a cover of 22 security personnel
Y category: 1-2 NSG commandos with a cover of 11 security personnel
X category: A security cover comprising of 5-2 security personnel