Kangana slapgate: Bollywood actor was first to get Y-Plus security, will she now get Z cover?
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Newly elected BJP MP from Mandi Kangana Ranaut was the first Bollywood actor to receive the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) security cover in 2020.
Kangana (37) was provided the Y-Plus cover on basis of a threat assessment report by the Union Home Ministry. Now, after the “slapgate” episode at the Chandigarh airport where the BJP MP was slapped allegedly by a CISF woman constable, a question being widely debated is whether the actor would now be given Z security.
Y-Plus cover comprises 11+ security personnel, including one or two commandos) and police personnel. There are two personnel for mobile security. Even the Chief Justice of India and industrialists like Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, have been provided Z-Plus security cover.
In case Kangana gets Z security, there would be 22 personnel guarding her, among them four or five NSG commandos plus police personnel. After Z security comes Z-plus, which comprises 55 personnel, including more than 10 NSG commandos. Protectees under this category get a bulletproof car, escort in three shifts and additional security when required. The next comes Special Protection Group (SPG) security, which is reserved only for the Prime Minister.
The CRPF also provides Z-Plus security to Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Ms Ranaut is just two notches below them on the scale of protection provided.
In 2020, the Home Ministry threat assessment report for Kangana was filed after a request from the Himachal Pradesh government.
A senior official in North Block had said that Kangana had publicly referred to individuals involved in drug cartels operating within Bollywood. According to the official, the rapidly escalating political row in Mumbai added weight to the decision to provide her with security cover.
Kangana was targeted by Shiva Sena and NCP leaders in Maharashtra after her comments on the Sushant Singh Rajput case comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
