Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Bikram Singh Majithia has been left with one-fourth of his safety element and one escort car as a substitute of three after his safety was pruned by Punjab Police.
Whereas the precise variety of safety personnel deployed for the safety of Majithia can’t be revealed, The Indian Categorical has learnt that the safety cowl has been drastically decreased and he has been left with one-fourth of the unique variety of armed personnel.
The problem of the discount of the safety cowl has kicked up a political storm with Majithia getting assist reducing throughout social gathering traces. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Majithia’s brother-in-law and former SAD president, visited him at his residence on Wednesday to precise his solidarity.
In the meantime, the police rejected stories that Majithia’s safety cowl was fully withdrawn, clarifying that the duvet had solely been scaled down primarily based on a reassessment of risk notion.
Arpit Shukla, Particular DGP (Regulation and Order), mentioned the adjustment was made following the newest suggestions of the Safety Evaluate Committee. “Safety for any distinguished particular person is reviewed periodically primarily based on risk evaluation. Accordingly, it’s both elevated or decreased,” mentioned Shukla, whereas including that Majithia nonetheless retained an escort car and an ample variety of armed personnel, making certain his security as per protocol.
Majithia has trashed this clarification and mentioned that until just some days in the past, he was being requested to rearrange his personal bulletproof car as there was no car obtainable to be allotted to him. “I used to be requested to make obtainable the registration certificates of the car which I needed to be bullet-proofed,” he mentioned.
Talking to the media in Chandigarh, Majithia mentioned he obtained details about the withdrawal of safety personnel at 7 pm on March 29. “Which authorities workplace works at the moment throughout the weekend? What was the tearing hurry? Why have AAP individuals like Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, Bibhav Kumar and Vijay Nair been given excessive safety by Punjab Police,” he requested.
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Badal mentioned the AAP authorities had intentionally decreased Majithia’s safety cowl and termed it as politics of revenge. He added that the AAP was making an attempt to contain Majithia in false instances. He additionally linked the transfer to the assault on himself outdoors the Golden Temple in Amritsar. “In my case the police haven’t even taken my assertion or that of my safety personnel and submitted the challan within the case. That is the primary time that the sufferer’s assertion has not been taken. It’s because the assault was deliberate by them,” he mentioned.
Sources mentioned that the choice on the safety cowl was a direct results of the potshots Majithia had taken at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann virtually day by day. He has been making statements concentrating on Mann and difficult him to take no matter motion he needs to be taken towards him.
In the meantime, the BJP has mentioned the discount of Majithia’s safety is a part of a “political vendetta”.
“Below @BhagwantMann & @ArvindKejriwal, Punjab has changed into a land of revenge-driven governance. As a substitute of making certain safety for political leaders, the AAP authorities flaunts safety withdrawals like trophies—simply because it did earlier than the tragic assassination of @iSidhuMooseWala. Few of our social gathering outspoken leaders are additionally beneath risk but once more deliberately not offering them safety and withdrawing from most of them, regardless of credible threats to their lives. In the meantime, safety was withdrawn from AAP leaders regardless of objections from the involved authorities, solely to be quietly reinstated—all whereas defeated AAP leaders from Delhi take pleasure in full safety at Punjab’s expense! The most recent sufferer of this vendetta @bsmajithia, focused whereas @ArvindKejriwal and his corrupt gang take pleasure in Z+ safety with out even holding official posts! Is Punjab’s CM so weak and insecure that he should silence his critics as a substitute of confronting them? This isn’t governance—that is dictatorship,” the social gathering wrote in an announcement put out on X on Wednesday.
