Security cover for 434 VVIPs to be restored, Punjab HC informed
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Jun, 2022 10:42 AM
Chandigarh, June 2 (IANS) Less than a week after the security cover for 434 VVIPs was either temporarily withdrawn or curtailed, the Punjab government on Thursday informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the security will be restored from June 7.
In less than 24 hours after his security was curtailed, singer-turned-actor-politician Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead by gangsters close to his ancestral village in Mansa in broad daylight.
The government decision on restoration of the security came to light during the resumed hearing before the bench of Justice Raj Mohan Singh.
In a previous hearing, the court had asked the government to bring relevant material in a sealed cover to explain the basis on which it had withdrawn or pruned the security of the protectees.
The court was hearing a petition filed by former Deputy Chief Minister O.P. Soni through counsel Madhu Dayal. Soni sought the quashing of order of de-categorising his security from "Z" and the withdrawal of security personnel.
After the government withdrew half of his security cover, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh last week said he asked his office to send the remaining security personnel to the government as he "does not need" them.
At the same time, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) deployed its armed men in the security of the jathedar, who had asked Sikhs to keep a licensed weapon in view of the "uncertain times".
In an order, the government withdrew or curtailed the security of 434 VIPs in the state. They largely include former legislators, heads of various "deras" and police officers.
The head of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, is among them.
Furnishing details about the incident, Additional DCP-2 Nishant Gupta told IANS that they had received information about a firing incident in the northeast Delhi area on October 1.
The activists of Punjab Congress will walk towards Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh if Priyanka Gandhi is not released and the Union Minister's son accused of murder not arrested, said state party President Navjot Sidhu on Tuesday.
Referring to police action against protesting farmers in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the BJP leader said, "Congress leaders who are very keen to visit Lakhimpur Kheri have not uttered a single word against police lathicharge on farmers in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan."
Comparisons are on in social media whether this arrest could change the Congress fortunes as after Indira Gandhi's arrest and later in the election in 1980 the Congress returned with a thumping majority.
During the 45-minute long meeting with the Home Minister, Channi also discussed the security situation of the state and demanded that the border must be sealed properly to effectively prevent the smuggling of weapons from Pakistan.
