National
June 03, 2022

The Punjab government said today that security protection for over 420 VVIPs will be restored beginning June 7, five days after singer Sidhu Moose Wala, whose security cover had been reduced, was shot dead.The Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, administration informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was hearing a lawsuit by former minister OP Soni, who is one of the 424 people whose protection was reduced.
During a prior hearing, the Punjab and Haryana High Court requested the state to present relevant evidence in a sealed cover for the court’s review in order to determine if beneficiaries’ security was excluded based on objective facts.The high court is considering a case filed by Om Parkash Soni, a former deputy chief minister of Punjab and a Congress politician, seeking to overturn a decision dated May 11, 2022, in which his security from the “Z” category was de-categorised and security men were withdrawn.In response to a high court query on why security cover was reduced, the Punjab government stated that it required the security personnel for the anniversary of Operation Bluestar on June 6, alluding to the military attack in June 1984 to destroy terrorists who had dug in at Golden Temple.In the midst of the BJP’s barrage, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh visited Delhi today and met with Mr Kejriwal. Mr Mann has announced the formation of a judicial committee led by a high court judge to probe the death of Sidhu MooseWala.
By Subhechcha Ganguly
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