Bengal govt urges MHA to rethink on entrusting Guv's security with CRPF
The West Bengal government has urged the Union Home Ministry to reconsider its decision on entrusting the security of governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with the CRPF, a senior official said on Wednesday (October 23).
In a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the state government has also sought to know the reasons why it was not consulted before the decision to hand over the governor’s security to the CRPF was taken.
According to a senior official of the state Secretariat, “It is the responsibility of the state government to look after the security of the governor since he is the constitutional head of the state.”
“The state government has provided him with “Z” category security since the first day of his appointment. Then, why did the MHA suddenly decide to entrust his security with the CRPF without consulting us,” the official told PTI.
The MHA on October 15 had issued an order, directing the CRPF to take charge of Dhankhar’s security that will be valid in all parts of the country. Though it is more than a week since the MHA notification was issued, the CRPF personnel are yet to take over the security of the governor at the Raj Bhavan.
Sources at the governor’s office said a communication was sent to the state government to upgrade the security from Z to Z+ category after his vehicle was blocked inside the Jadavpur University campus allegedly by its students when he went there to rescue Union Minister Babul Supriyo in September.
Further, the official added that the state government’s security arrangements are foolproof and the MHA has been urged to rethink on the issue.
Meetings between senior officers of the state police and the paramilitary force on laying of the new security design had ended inconclusively, making it difficult for the CRPF to take charge of the governor’s security.
Dhankhar took oath as the governor of West Bengal on July 30. It is to be noted that, only Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee get Z+ security in the state.
(With inputs from agency)
