The CISF team of 150 personnel will be headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner
Nagpur: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has taken over the security cover of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Headquarters in Nagpur with effect from September 1, 2022, according to reports in the media. About 150 personnel, including officers, who arrived last evening replaced the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and Nagpur Police which provided security to the RSS Headquarters for about 15 years.
The reports said that the CISF team will be headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner. The security personnel are presently accommodated in a school near the headquarters. The Union Home Ministry had earlier decided to provide RSS HQ and Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat a ‘Z plus’ security due to the threat perception.
Back in June 2006, three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were gunned down by police when they tried to enter the RSS Headquarters in Nagpur.
The development came days after the Central Government abolished over 3,000 CISF posts at airports in the country and replaced them with private security guards.
The blueprint prepared by BCAS, the aviation security regulator, abolished a total of 3,049 CISF aviation security posts to be replaced by 1,924 private security personnel and a parallel introduction of smart surveillance technology like CCTV cameras and baggage scanners.
The private security personnel are being deployed at airports like in Delhi, Mumbai and others for non-sensitive duties like queue management, security assistance to airlines staff and passengers, and manning of certain entry and exit points within the terminal area, the reports said.
The CISF will continue to render its core task of checking passenger credentials at entry, frisking of passengers, anti-sabotage drills, secondary ladder point checks and providing an overall counter-terrorist cover to the airports on the city and air side, reports added.
According to another report, the RSS headquarters in Delhi has been provided with a security cover of the Central Industrial Security Force by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The CISF has taken over the security duty at the under-construction headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Keshav Kunj, and the Udasin Ashram from where the RSS is currently functioning. The CISF has been deployed at both places beginning September 1.
As RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also works from the Delhi offices and the re-development of the ‘Keshav Kunj’ facility is nearing completion, it was thought prudent by the security agencies to provide it with an armed cover of the CISF which has been doing this job in Nagpur.
