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CISF takes over Parliament security
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has taken charge of security of the Parliament complex after orders for the change in guard were issued by the home ministry last week
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has taken charge of security of the Parliament complex after orders for the change in guard were issued by the home ministry last week, people aware of the matter said.
At least 1,500 CISF personnel led by a deputy inspector general have been posted to Parliament. The team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) earlier posted within the premises have been replaced by the CISF, an official said, seeking anonymity.
“The CISF personnel are currently using the barracks of the CRPF team that are inside Parliament. At least 1,500 have taken charge of Parliament’s security. There is a separate fire unit too. It is a comprehensive security plan under which the security commandos will reside in the base and have a separate fire unit,” the official said.
All Delhi police personnel have also been withdrawn and only a few are posted outside the perimeter, he added.
“Currently, the personnel of the Parliament Security Service (PSS),an in-house security unit of Parliament, is assisting the CISF in access control. Earlier, Delhi police was also in-charge of access control along with PSS staff but after the orders, police have been withdrawn and CISF is working with PSS. Until further orders, both CISF and PSS will conduct checks and frisk the people who enter the building,” the officer said.
The CRPF personnel of the Parliament Duty Group were posted to deal with infiltrators. CRPF personnel were posted at the watchtowers and within the boundary of the complex. Their commandos were not engaged in frisking visitors or parliamentarians entering the compound.
Some of the best commandos of the CISF have replaced the Parliament Duty Group team, another official said, wishing to remain unnamed. “This second team of commandos are not engaged in frisking or checking,” he said. “They are there to deal with any emergency and cases of armed infiltrators.”
The home ministry on December 20 directed the CISF to conduct a security survey against the backdrop of a breach on December 13. On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two men walked through three layers of security with smoke canisters concealed in their shoes, vaulted into the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery and sprayed smoke inside the chamber during Zero Hour.
The breach led the Lok Sabha Secretariat to suspend eight security personnel for lapses. Until that day, the security of Parliament was jointly managed by Delhi police, CRPF and PSS. “The survey and security detail was approved by the headquarters and then the ministry. The security is now with the CISF,” the second official said.
With a strength of around 200,000 personnel, the CISF provides security to airports and metro stations, and at least 356 sensitive installations such as coal mines and nuclear and power plants. Many government installations in left-wing extremism areas of Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir are also secured by the CISF.
CISF’s VIP protection unit provides Z plus security cover to people such as Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
