Keep safe distance, SPG tells top leaders

They are representatives of the people, for the people, and by the people, but they have been advised not to go very close to the people.

The Special Protection Group (SPG), the elite force that guards the country’s top politicians, has asked them to avoid coming in close contact with people while campaigning for the Lok Sabha election. The advice comes in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai and Lahore.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh and the Gandhi family, including son-in-law Robert Vadra, are among 23 top personalities guarded by the SPG. Though BJP veteran LK Advani is not an SPG protectee, he gets special cover because of the high threat perception to his life.

The SPG advice may keep these leaders away from roadshows and rathyatras — tried and trusted formulae to drum up election hysteria.

The SPG has expressed the fear that roadshows would be an “unmanageable security risk as protectees come into close contact with a large number of people”, a source said.

Instead, the star campaigners have been asked to confine themselves to public rallies and “sanitised” smaller meetings.

“Of course, it is ultimately a political decision whether the roadshows will happen, but our view has been that these are unwieldy and difficult to handle,” said the source in the force. “For example, Rahul Gandhi, during his tour of Orissa, went off on his own during the night to visit a tribal village. So, we can only express a view.”

Though the campaign details of SPG protectees have not been made public, most of them seem to be following the SPG advice. Rahul Gandhi has been largely meeting small groups or addressing large rallies, like the one in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Advani, who abandoned a series of rallies a year ago because of the enhanced threat perception, has also avoided roadshows so far.

With terrorists getting bolder and carrying out audacious attacks in Mumbai and Lahore, the Special Protection Group, established in 1985 after the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi, is training in Krav Maga, a martial art devised by the Israeli Army for hand-to-hand combat.

“We have also started an assault group which is trained to take on attackers while one group will whisk away the protectee from the troublespot,” said a source in the SPG.
While most SPG personnel carry small arms, the assault group will carry Pavor 21 assault rifles.

The SPG has about 3,000 personnel, mostly drawn from the ranks of various police forces and the elite National Security Guard.