Over 800 police officers guard 84 VIPs in Maharashtra
13 May, 2014An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Pune based RTI activist Vihar Dhurve, who desired to know the total number of police force deployed for the protection of VIPs in Maharashtra – both political and non-political. Reply to the application has revealed that 52 police men have been deployed to guard only the Union home minister Sushil kumar Shinde and his MLA daughter Praniti who have been accorded Z-Plus security. Ujwala Shinde, the wife of the Union home minister, has been granted a Y-category security and has a total of 14 personnel for her security other than those deployed for the father-daughter duo. The reply further shows that 746 policemen have been deployed for the security of 82 other VIPs.
Thus, for the security of 84 VIPs in Maharashtra, a total of 812 police officers and security personnel have been deployed. This includes individuals who have been granted Z-category and Z-plus category security.
· Z-plus category security has been granted to 12 persons including the Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, home minister R R Patil and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
· Z-category security has been granted to 18 persons including former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria who have 15-22 personnel guarding them.