Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has been provided ‘Y’ category security by the Ministry of Home Affairs due to reports of threat to his life. This is over and above the security cover provided to him by the state police. Under the ‘Y’ scale security, Annamalai will be protected by the armed Personal Security Officers drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Security Branch CID of the state police on a round-the-clock basis.
According to the reports, intelligence agencies have reported that K Annamalai is facing threats from Maoists and religious extremists. The Intelligence agencies took note of the level of threat perception to the former IPS officer-turned politician over the past few weeks and prepared a report citing legitimate sources. The Union Home Ministry then directed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to provide ‘Y’ security for the leader.
Union Home Ministry gives ‘Y’ category CRPF security cover to Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai in the state, over and above the security cover provided to him by the State Police.
— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2022
(File photo) pic.twitter.com/Ls8p57y1xx
Earlier in February, three petrol bombs were thrown at the Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters, ‘Kamalalayam,’ in T Nagar, Chennai, for the party’s pro-NEET stand. The police had on February 10 arrested a 38-year-old man for setting fire to three bottles filled with petrol and throwing them at the BJP state headquarters. Annamalai had later urged the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the incident as well as a bigger plot.
Interestingly, in February last year, Annamalai was given Y-Plus security cover following a suspected threat to his life from extremist organizations but later the scale was reduced to the ‘X’ category. Under the ‘Y’ category of security, Annamalai will be protected by at least four armed personal security personnel round the clock. Besides, local police will also be ordered to enhance surveillance in the vicinity of his place of stay.
The state BJP leader has several times in the past slammed the DMK government for its nonchalant attitude towards the state. He said that CM MK Stalin was busy finding faults in PM Modi’s leadership but failed to introspect the actions of the state government. “The State government could not even deliver the Pongal gift hampers to the cardholders properly, the Centre had so effectively administered over 150 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses to the people by moving them to every nook and cranny of the country that the pandemic had come under control, he said.
Also, amid the Hijab row, he had accused the Congress of practicing communal politics in the State, adding that the BJP would never practice appeasement politics. Annamalai, a former cop-turned politician, was elected to lead the BJP’s Tamil Nadu branch in July 2021. He was a former IPS officer from the Karnataka cadre who left the government service in August 2020 and joined the BJP.
