Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha gets 'Z' category security cover

Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha has been accorded a ‘Z’ category VIP security cover of armed central paramilitary commandos by the Centre.

Officials said the Union Home Ministry recently issued orders to provide an armed cover to Sinha, who is a Member of Parliament from Ghazipur constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

They said a security and threat analysis report prepared by central security agencies favoured such a security arrangement for Sinha, who is also the Union Minister of State for Telecom and Railways.

They said the task to secure the Minister has been entrusted to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which protects VIPs like National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

At least 25 armed CISF commandos would soon take over the task and Sinha will be secured by them during all his visits and movements in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

The cover will entail a pilot and an escort vehicle for the Minister, they added.

With the latest induction of the VIP, the CISF will have over 75 protectees under its cover, while almost 60 are secured by another paramilitary CRPF, around 20 by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and over a dozen by the ‘black cat’ commandos of the National Security Guard.

The Centre has recently accorded a ‘Z+’ armed cover of NSG commandos to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who have taken over the charge in Guwahati.