Varun has enough cover: MHA

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding BJP���s endorsement of Ms Maneka Gandhi���s concerns regarding security of her son, Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi, in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Union home ministry finds the leader���s protective cover adequate and commensurate with threat perception.

According to MHA sources, though Mr Varun Gandhi has ���Y��� category security on paper, in Delhi, he effectively enjoys Z category-like protection. This includes three personal security officers (PSOs), one pilot car, one escort car and 10 security guards at his residence. He has had this security paraphernalia since his last security upgrade done after LS polls.

Ms Maneka Gandhi had recently written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underlining the security threat to her son Varun, citing the alleged intelligence intercepts in which underworld don Chhota Shakeel was heard offering money for the assassination of the Pilibhit MP, as well as the subsequent arrest of 7 Shakeel aides who were on an alleged mission to kill Varun and his lawyers. The Aonla MP was critical of the ���lackadaisical approach��� of the Union home ministry to the ���threats��� to Varun���s life. ���It is as if you want Varun Gandhi killed,��� she had alleged.

The concerns were on Tuesday raised by deputy Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, who requested Speaker Meira Kumar to direct home minister P Chidambaram to provide upgraded security to the MP. Ms Swaraj said there had been two underworld threats to Mr Varun Gandhi since April and it had now been proved that the Chhota Shakeel men arrested were here to kill Gandhi���s lawyer and, possibly, also Mr Gandhi himself.

However, Delhi Police sources deny that Varun was the target of the arrested Shakeel aides, who were on a mission to kill Varun���s lawyer. Even Varun���s lawyer is protected by a PSO. MHA sources on Tuesday hinted that the lawyer���s PSO may be withdrawn now that the alleged assassination attempt has been foiled with the arrest of the Shakeel gang members.