Kangana Ranaut first Bollywood star to be guarded by CRPF commandos
New Delhi Actor Kangana Ranaut, who was given the Y-plus security cover by the Union Home Ministry, is the first Bollywood star to be guarded by a posse of elite commandos of the CRPF, officials said.
The CRPF, the country's largest paramilitary force, has been providing security to about 60 dignitaries and high-profile persons, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka.
Ranaut is the first Bollywood actor who will be guarded by CRPF commandos, an official privy to the development said.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita are also protected by the CRPF personnel. While Mukesh Ambani enjoys Z-plus security, his wife gets Y-plus security. However, they make payments in lieu of the security they get from the government.
It is immediately not known whether Ranaut will have to pay or not to the government for the security she is getting now. Under the Y-plus category security, Ranaut will be guarded by 10-11 armed commandos who will work in shifts round the clock. Among these commandos, Ranaut will have two-three armed PSOs (personal security officers) everytime she is on the move while other armed personnel will secure her residence.
The personnel at the house will have "access control" to all the people who come and go out of the house, another official said.
Y-plus security to Ranaut means a specific threat has been vetted by intelligence agencies. She is also likely to get an escort vehicle for carrying her security team.
The Z category protectee too gets escort vehicle and the Z-plus protectee gets a pilot as well as escort vehicle, the official said.
Other Bollywood stars are mostly guarded by either Maharashtra Police or by private security agencies.
The CRPF commandos are considered to be one of the best trained personnel in India who are capable of handling any crisis situation to any dignitary and give close proximity security to him or her.
As per the threat assessment report prepared by central security agencies, Ranaut may face danger to her life from narcotics syndicates and other hostile elements for speaking against them, the official said.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday welcomed the decision to provide her with central security. Ranaut's home state is Himachal Pradesh.
"I have got information that an 11-member commando team of the CRPF has been provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs for her security yesterday. I welcome this decision and also express my gratitude to union home minister. Her security is important for us," he said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
