The Union government granted X-category security to the families of Gulzar Singh and Parvinder Singh Jhota in Punjab. This decision followed an assessment of heightened security threats. Three personnel will protect each family. Security teams are expected to reach them by Friday, ten days after Amit Shah promised them justice.
CHANDIGARH: The Union government has granted X-category security cover to the families of deceased Dalit daily-wage worker Gulzar Singh and anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Punjab following an assessment of heightened security threats.
Sources said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had cleared the security cover for the families. Security personnel are expected to reach them by Friday.
Gulzar died by suicide after confronting Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema during a public event in Toor Banjara village in Dirba, Sangrur, on September 6. Jhota was shot murdered in Mansa district on October 13 while confronting a local chemist allegedly selling habit-forming drugs.
The security allocation comes 10 days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised justice to the families. Under X-category security cover, three security personnel are assigned to each protectee.
The MHA has yet to publicly confirm the arrangements, including whether personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will be deployed.
However, Dirba Deputy Superintendent of Police Rupinder Kaur Bajwa said the local police had received verbal communication from the CRPF regarding X-category security for Gulzar's wife.
Sangrur BJP leader Daman Bajwa also confirmed the development, saying the security teams were on their way and would be stationed with the families later on Friday.
The MHA recently sought details from the Punjab government about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gulzar, Jhota and Bikramjit Singh of Gurdaspur. Shah also met the families during his recent visit to Punjab.
During the visit, Shah met Mohanjit Singh Sheron, who alleged that he had faced custodial torture for displaying a black flag during Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's Lok Milni programme.
The Centre's intervention comes amid mounting criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over its handling of protests by families demanding justice. The move has also brought the BJP-led central government into a politically sensitive controversy, as policing is a state subject and drug trafficking remains a major electoral issue.
For the BJP, the development provides an opportunity to question Mann's record on law and order and his government's response to families seeking justice.