Telangana Government Reduces Security Cover for Public Representatives and Police Officials

The Telangana government has pruned the security cover of several people, including public representatives and police officials, in view of the elimination of the Maoist threat. The security downgrade includes reducing the number of gunmen and withdrawing vehicles, including the bulletproof ones. DGP CV Anand also surrendered his pilot vehicle and downscaled his security from Z to Y+ category, top sources in the state police told PTI on Friday, July 3. The decision to reduce security, taken by the government’s Security Review Committee, was across the board and includes serving and retired senior police officials and public representatives. Following the surrender of 42 Maoists, 11 of them from the Telangana State Committee, then DGP B Shivadhar Reddy on April 10 said the state is completely free of CPI (Maoist) armed formations. Due to the Maoist threat, the protectees, including retired police officials, were provided security personnel, bulletproof vehicles, and other security measures. On June 30, the Telangana High Court had restrained the state government from withdrawing the bullet-proof vehicle allotted to retired IPS officer and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader RS Praveen Kumar , at least for a week, pending further orders. Praveen Kumar, a 1995-batch IPS officer who took voluntary retirement in 2021 and now serves as BRS general secretary, moved the High Court after the government sought to recall the security vehicle provided to him. The petitioner’s counsel, Gandra Mohan Rao, argued that no threat assessment had been carried out afresh before the decision, and due process had not been followed. His counsel also contended that given his past role in countering Left-wing extremism and the rehabilitation of several former Maoists into mainstream society, the threat to his life persisted and the security cover, along with the specialised vehicle, ought to continue. On June 29, the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) strongly protested the state government’s decision to withdraw X-plus security for Praveen Kumar, saying that law enforcement personnel who risk their lives to protect the country from internal threats would be demoralised if the government went ahead with its decision. BRS leader V Srinivas Goud had made a similar charge just days earlier, accusing the government of effectively engineering Praveen Kumar’s murder by stripping him of protection.