The central government has ordered the complete removal of NSG commandos from VIP security duties and has assigned the responsibility of protecting UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and eight other VIPs to the CRPF by next month.
According to sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the CRPF will now be deployed for the security of those VIPs who were previously protected by NSG personnel. The Home Ministry has recently approved the integration of a new battalion of specially trained personnel, who were removed from parliamentary security duties, into the CRPF VIP Security Wing.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
Mayawati
Rajnath Singh
L.K. Advani
Sarbananda Sonowal
Raman Singh
Ghulam Nabi Azad
N. Chandrababu Naidu
Farooq Abdullah
Sources have indicated that the responsibility of providing security to the 9 VIPs, who were previously under the 'Z+ category' protection by NSG's 'Black Cat' commandos, will now be assigned to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The shift of duty between the two forces (NSG and CRPF) is expected to be completed within a month. The CRPF currently has 6 battalions dedicated to VIP security, and it has been asked to include a seventh battalion, which was previously responsible for the security of Parliament.
According to PTI, a senior official revealed that after a security lapse last year, the responsibility for Parliament's security was handed over from the CRPF to the CISF.
Sources indicate that under the new assignment, a team from the Andhra Pradesh police recently came to Delhi to facilitate the transition of security for their Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, from NSG to CRPF.
According to sources, two of the nine VIPs, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will benefit from the Advanced Security Contact Protocol being implemented by the CRPF.
This protocol involves conducting a preliminary reconnaissance of the locations that the VIPs are scheduled to visit.
The CRPF currently employs such a protocol for five VIPs, including Home Minister Amit Shah, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and three leaders from the Gandhi family of Congress.