Raju Pal’s wife Puja Pal, a sitting Samajwadi Party MLA, demands Y+ security cover from CM Yogi Adityanath - Hindustan Times
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Raju Pal’s wife Puja Pal, a sitting Samajwadi Party MLA, demands Y+ security cover from CM Yogi Adityanath

By, Prayagraj
Feb 27, 2023 11:53 PM IST

Samajwadi Party MLA Puja Pal made a formal request for Y+ security in a letter written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath. She reiterated the request personally during a meeting with him in Lucknow on Sunday evening.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Puja Pal, the wife of slain Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, has sought Y+ level security cover for herself from Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath after the murder of lawyer Umesh Pal and his police gunner constable Sandeep Nishad in Prayagraj on February 24. Umesh Pal was a key witness in the murder of Raju Pal in Prayagraj in 2005.

Samajwadi Party MLA Puja Pal (sitting extreme right) during her visit to slain lawyer Umesh Pal’s house in Prayagraj on Sunday. (HT) (HT Photo)
Samajwadi Party MLA Puja Pal (sitting extreme right) during her visit to slain lawyer Umesh Pal’s house in Prayagraj on Sunday. (HT) (HT Photo)

Samajwadi Party MLA Puja Pal made a formal request for Y+ security in a letter written to the chief minister. She reiterated the request personally during a meeting with him in Lucknow on Sunday evening.

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Former MP Atiq Ahmad and his brother, former MLA Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf, who were in the Samajwadi Party when Raju Pal was gunned down, are the prime accused in the murder. Atiq Ahmad and his brother are lodged in different jails.

In the letter to the chief minister, Puja Pal has alleged that she has been getting threats from Atiq Ahmad and his aides since September 2019 to not give her testimony in court failing which she and her family would be eliminated.

Puja Pal said that Umesh Pal was a witness in the case and he has now been killed.

“I am the main litigant of MLA Raju Pal’s murder case. The trial of the Raju Pal murder case in the CBI court of Lucknow is now in its final stages and I should be provided more security now for if I am killed, the case may well collapse,” she said.

Puja Pal said that the CBI has instructed her to restrict her movement.

“I have met CM Yogi on Sunday and demanded security while appealing to him for my safety. I am shaken after this incident. Other witnesses in the Raju Pal murder case should also be given protection,” she added.

Raju Pal, the sitting BSP MLA from Allahabad West, was gunned down in Sulem Sarai area of Prayagraj (then known as Allahabad) in January 2005. Puja Pal contested the 2005 assembly bypoll, which followed Raju Pal’s murder, on the BSP ticket but lost the seat to Ashraf.

Puja Pal defeated Ashraf in 2007 state assembly elections. She again secured the seat in 2012 assembly polls, while defeating Atiq Ahmad himself. She lost the 2017 assembly election and finished third as BJP’s Sidharth Nath Singh won the seat.

Accusing her of staying away from party meetings and involvement in anti-party activities, the BSP suspended and then expelled her in February 2018, ending her 13-year association with the party. She had joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2019. In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, she won the Chail seat as an SP and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) candidate, defeating BJP-Apna Dal(S) alliance candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel by 13,201 votes.

CATEGORIES OF SECURITY

In India, security cover by the government is offered to well-known personalities whose lives are in danger owing to their work or popularity. Different levels of security are provided depending on the input provided by intelligence agencies in order to safeguard them from threats. Based on dangers, security category is separated into five main groups and assigned to a person. X, Y, Z, Z+, SPG, with few more security classifications, too, available. Such security is available to VIPs and VVIPs, athletes, entertainers, and other high-profile or political figures.

While Z+ is the highest level of protection, the most powerful individuals in the country, including current and previous Prime Ministers, receive SPG cover. The Y and Y+ are India’s fourth highest security levels, and the protective cover comprises an around 11-member crew, which includes a few NSG commandos and police personnel. It also comes with two well-armed personal security officers (PSOs).

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