Only Prime Minister Narendra Modi will get SPG security now on. Gandhis have been stripped off the Special Protection Group security. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will no more enjoy SPG protection. They will be now be guarded by CRPF Z+ security cover on an all-India basis. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the Home Ministry today. It will be after 28 years that Gandhis will be without SPG protection. They were included in the VVIP security list following an amendment in September 1991 in the SPG Act of 1988. According to a Home Ministry official, the SPG security of Gandhis will be withdrawn from their New Delhi residence after the CRPF takes over the responsibility. In August, the government had stripped of the SPG cover given to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is now given Z-plus category security cover.
A force of about 3,000 active personnel, the SPG was formed in 1985 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her own bodyguards in 1984. The SPG is responsible for zero-error security of the PM. It carries out anti-sabotage checks to sanitise venues where PM is to be present. SPG personnel are recruited from various armed units including the Indian Police Service, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force and Sashastra Seema Bal. The Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel undergo rigorous armed and unarmed combat training.
Z+ category has a security cover of 55 personnel [Including 10+ NSG Commando] + [Police Personnel]. Z-plus security cover is provided by National Security Guard commandos, who are armed with Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine guns and modern communication equipment. Each of them is adept in martial arts and unarmed combat skills.
