Riot accused BJP MLA gets Z security; Oppn not amused

In a controversial decision, the Centre accorded riot accused BJP legislator Sangeet Som with Z category security, citing threat to his life in Uttar Pradesh. The move has come under scathing attack from the Opposition which termed it as a “cruel joke” on the victims.

Som, according to the home department officials here, has been granted Z category security cover within the state by the Union Home Ministry. They said that the state government has received a letter from the Centre intimating it about the decision.

According to sources, the decision was taken after Som approached Home Minister Rajnath Singh and sought a higher category security in view of the threat.

The MLA, who has been accused of delivering a provocative speech at an illegally convened panchayat during last year's communal violence at Muzaffarnagar, will get a pilot and an escort vehicle, two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors, a wireless operator and 23 CRPF constables.

Som, an MLA from Sardhana Assembly seat in Meerut district, earlier had Y category security on the direction of the court during the recent Lok Sabha elections in view of threat to his life from political rivals.

The firebrand saffron leader was arrested during the Muzaffarnagar communal clashes and the stringent National Security Act (NSA) had also been invoked against him by the state government, which was later withdrawn.

The decision was decried by the opposition, which accused the BJP-led government at the centre of “providing protection to rioters”. In New Delhi, Congress leader Manish Tewari described the move as “weird”.