Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut will get CRPF Y + security coverage (Archive)
New Delhi:
Kangana Ranaut will become the first Bollywood actor to receive security coverage from the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). Ms. Ranaut, 33, received Y-Plus coverage based on a threat assessment report from the Interior Ministry, government sources said Monday.
If awarded the cover of Y-Plus, the “Reina” actor will join an elite club that includes Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
According to an official, the central agency provides Y-Plus security for 15 people. Aside from the Chief Justice and Mr. Prasad, others on the list are Congressional Leader Sachin Pilot and Vijay Kumar, who is a former Director General of the agency and is credited with the murder of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
Kumar was also a former adviser to Satya Pal Malik, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The CRPF also provides Z-Plus security to Interior Minister Amit Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Ms. Ranaut is only two notches below them on the scale of protection provided.
Z-Plus coverage is also provided to Mukesh Ambani, President of Reliance Industries Limited. However, Ambani pays for this coverage, revealed a senior official.
The Home Office Threat Assessment Report for Ms Ranaut was submitted following a request from the Himachal Pradesh government.
A senior North Block official said Ms. Ranaut had publicly referred to people involved in drug cartels operating within Bollywood. According to the official, the rapidly escalating political dispute in Mumbai added weight to the decision to provide him with security coverage.
Ms. Ranaut has been attacked by Shiva Sena and the NCP leaders in Maharashtra after comments on the Sushant Singh Rajput case compared the city to Pakistani-occupied Kashmir.
A fact sheet from the Ministry of the Interior indicates that, in total, the CRPF provides security for up to 60 important people. A senior official said that of these 60 people, nearly 40 percent were non-political personalities who had been given security cover after court instructions through the center.
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