Security is a private affair for Railway Minister Mamata

Security is a private affair for Railway Minister Mamata
SUBRATA NAGCHOUDHURY

CALCUTTA, AUG 20: `RPF' is an acronym that, anywhere in India, readily translates into Railway Protection Force. In Bengal, though, it means the ``Railway Private Force'' which is always on call to protect Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee from harm.

For a while now, an RPF commando unit has been a staple at programmes and meetings addressed by Mamata. In official parlance, the unit now comprises the ``proximate security ring'', the innermost security circle that protects her. But the deployment of the force has raised questions in the state Home police department, which is responsible for providing security to her.

State Home police department officials say the commando unit has been moving independently without informing state authorities in advance. This has been causing ``operational problems'', they say. ``In case of any lapse in security, who should be held responsible -- the RPF commandos or the state police unit?'' the officials ask.

Provision of security cover to a leader is entirely in the hands of the state government, and the West Bengal government has made ample arrangements for Mamata. Her security status was reviewed around May-June this year and upgraded to the Z category. Mamata is the only Opposition leader in Bengal to be accorded this status; the other Bengal leader to be given Z security was Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who was Governor of Punjab at the peak of militancy. Chief Minister Jyoti Basu stays one notch up in the ladder, with Z Plus status.

Enquiries with the Railways reveal that there has been a fairly elaborate deployment of the RPF commandos for Banerjee, drawn from its crack 10th battalion. Several personnel have been posted as ``house guards'' at Mamata's residence. Another group has been asked to move with the Minister wherever she goes -- be it an official function or a political event.

In fact, state police sources say the Chief Security Commissioner and IG, RPF, Eastern Railway, is being used by the Minister as her ``personal bodyguard.'' The IG accompanied Banerjee all the way from Malda to Midnapore when nine TMC supporters were killed a couple of months back, trailing her to Keshpur as well.

Again, during the recently-held municipal polls when trouble broke out at Salt Lake during repolling, Banerjee rushed there, the IG in tow.

While the IG, Eastern Railway was not available for comment, the IG South Eastern Railway, Sultan Singh, said it was perfectly valid for the Railway Minister to avail of railway security which has a para-military force of its own. ``How can one disregard the Minister if she desires the services of the RPF?'' he asked. Singh also denied that there was any communication gap between the RPF and the state police. All her programmes are being intimated to the state IB and district police well in advance, he added.

In political circles, however, Mamata Banerjee's ``personal security appratus'' is coming under attack. The Left as well as Congress circles say Banerjee may have done away with many privileges that the earlier railway ministers used to enjoy. ``But when it comes to her security, she is no different from Ram Vilas Paswan,'' said a CPI(M) leader.

A TMC leader, however, claimed that the threat to Mamata's life was ``real and increasing''. She has been attacked several times in the past, and the deployment of an additional security ring of RPF commandos around her was a necessary precaution, claimed the leader.