The Special Protection Group (SPG) security cover given to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka was withdrawn on November 8, 28 years after the elite force’s continuous deployment, and it was replaced by the ‘Z-plus’ security of the CRPF, officials said.

The government’s decision to withdraw the SPG cover given to the family of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by LTTE terrorists on May 21, 1991, was taken after a detailed security assessment, a senior home ministry official said.

In August this year, the government withdrew the SPG cover of former prime minister Manmohan Singh. 

The 3,000-strong SPG, which acts as a ‘shadow’ to its protectees to ensure ‘zero-error security’, will now be guarding only Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An elite security force

The need for a separate force for guarding the prime minister of the country was felt after prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her security guards on October 31, 1984.

After her death, a committee was constituted to review the security of the prime minister of the country. It recommended the formation of a Special Protection Group (SPG). In 1985, an inspector-general rank officer was nominated as its first director and the organisation continued to function on an executive order for another three years. 

In 1988, the Special Protection Group Act was enacted by the Parliament. 

Following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, the SPG Act was amended to provide protection to all former prime ministers and their families for at least 10 years.

In 2003, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government amended the law again to bring down the automatic protection for 10 years to one year or more depending on the level of threat as decided by the centre.

The SPG protectees, under the rules, are provided with guards, hi-tech vehicles, jammers and an ambulance in their carcade.

SPG officers are ingrained in high leadership qualities, professionalism, knowledge of proximate security and inculcate the culture of leading from the front. SPG has strived to achieve this by adopting innovative methods not only in its own work, but also in the overall security arrangements in collaboration with the IB and State/ UT police forces.

What are different categories of protection?

There are special instructions for security of the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister, which are contained in their respective Blue Books issued by ministry of home affairs.

Security arrangements for other individuals are made as per the guidelines laid down in the ‘Yellow Book’ titled ‘Security arrangements for the protection of individuals’. The security arrangements for such individuals are made after careful assessment of their threat perception by the Central Security Agency. Depending on the level of threat, security is provided in Z+,Z,Y+,Y and X categories.

Certain categories of individuals, such as Union ministers, chief ministers and judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, are provided positional/statutory security cover to facilitate bold and impartial decision making. Their security is withdrawn after they demit their office.

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