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SPG team gets ready to protect Modi, family

The SPG reviewed the security of both his wife Jashodaben and mother Hiraba.

A team of the Special Protection Group (SPG) has descended on Gujarat to give additional security cover to Narendra Modi and his family after the results of the Lok Sabha elections paved the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader to become the prime minister.

The gun-totting men of the SPG, an elite force of 3,000-strong specialised unit created to provide security to the PM, former PMs and their families, were already on their toes in Vadodara when Modi addressed his first public rally after getting the mandate.

Gujarat’s director-general of police P C Thakur, who had discussions with the SPG team on Saturday and Sunday, told Khaleej Times that Modi, who now enjoys Z-double-plus security, as well his wife and mother would get full SPG cover only after he was sworn in as the PM. The visiting SPG team is now consulting top-drawer officials of the Gujarat government, the state police and Intelligence Bureau and is taking stock of surveillance and security layout to make necessary changes after assessing threat perceptions. Said additional chief secretary (Home) S K Nanda: “Considering the sensitivity and threat to Modi, SPG officials are consulting the Gujarat government and Gujarat Police on taking extra measures that need to be taken while guarding Modi and his family members.

The SPG, the nodal agency for security in the country, reviewed the security of both his wife Jashodaben who lives in Unjha town in North Gujarat, and mother Hiraba living in Gandhianagar where it is now planning to set up a base.

When the Centre had refused to upgrade the NSG to SPG cover for Modi, the Gujarat government had created a special team, comprising its own officers, headed by an IGP rank officer, to provide security cover for Modi’s rallies and public gatherings.

The team, consisting of personnel of ATS, crime branch, special branch, CID, intelligence, bomb and dog squad and several other agencies of the state police, has been guarding Modi for almost a year, after he was declared as the PM candidate for the BJP.

As soon as Modi is sworn in as the PM, one team of SPG officials will set up its base in Gandhinagar to provide security to his family, while the other would move along with the PM in New Delhi.