Paneerselvam had a smaller ‘Y+’ cover of central paramilitary commandos while Stalin had a larger ‘Z+’ category protection, the officials said.
The Centre on Thursday withdrew the security cover provided to Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and DMK president MK Stalin, government officials told news agency ANI.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is in the process of withdrawal of security staff from both political leaders.
Paneerselvam had a smaller ‘Y+’ cover of central paramilitary commandos while Stalin had a larger ‘Z+’ category protection, the officials said.
The security cover of these two politicians has been removed from the central security list after a threat assessment review was made by central security agencies and approved by the Union home ministry, they said.
The central security cover will be formally taken off after the state police takes over their security, the officials said.
OPS, as Panneerselvam is known in political circles, was assigned central security cover back in 2017 on the basis of a threat perception analysis by the Intelligence Bureau.
The Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister was covered under ‘Y’ category security and used to get round the clock protection from two personal security officers and around a dozen guards deployed at his residence and office.
Prasanta Patnaik