THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The CRPF has deployed its men in the Raj Bhavan to provide security to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in the wake of his run-ins with SFI workers, who have intensified their agitation against him. The CRPF will replace the Kerala Police personnel and take over close quarter protection. However, the state police will continue to call the shots in providing security and crowd management during the outdoor programmes of the governor.
The governor, who has been caught in SFI’s crosshairs over his nominations to the senate councils of universities in the state, had sought the Centre’s intervention after black flags were waved at him by SFI members near Nilamel on Saturday. Following that, the Centre decided to provide him CRPF’s Z-plus security.
Currently, about 70 cops from the Kerala Police are providing security to the Raj Bhavan and the governor. The state police personnel will be relieved of the task of providing close quarter protection to the governor. The top officers of the state police will hold a meeting with the Raj Bhavan and the CRPF senior officials on Monday to discuss the change of guard.
“The inner perimeter security to the governor is being provided by the State Special Branch security team. They are the men clad in safari suit and they will now be recalled and replaced with the CRPF men. The modalities of change of guard will be charted out during Monday’s meeting,” a senior police officer told TNIE.
As on Sunday, the state police have not recalled its men, and this process will happen only after the meeting. However, the change of guard in the close quarter security team will have negligible effect with regard to crowd management and curtailing of protests against the governor.
The state police will continue to call the shots in these tasks. The CRPF troopers will have no stake in either crowd management or law and order maintenance. They cannot directly quell any protest or engage with the crowd. Their lone responsibility will be to secure the safety of the governor.
“The changes that will be made are superficial as the local police will continue to manage the crowd. The CRPF men are not going to quell the protests. They can’t arrest or register cases against anyone. That’s not their job. The state police will be doing that,” a source in the state police said.
z+ security for guv
CRPF troopers will provide security to the Raj Bhavan and the governor
About 55 men from CRPF will take over the security from the Kerala Police
The security team comprises of CRPF commandos as well
The local police will provide logistics and vehicles to the CRPF team
The local police will share intelligence inputs with central agencies regarding Raj Bhavan security
The state police will provide officers with local knowledge to the CRPF team while travelling with the governor in the state
More than 70 cops from Kerala Police have been providing him round-the-clock security
Officers clad in safari suit, who are from the State Special Branch’s special security team for VVIPs, responsible for securing the
inner perimeter so far