Anil Goswami, who was asked to resign as home secretary for interfering in CBI probe
Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami, who was sacked for allegedly trying to protect former Union Minister Matang Sinh in the Saradha chit fund scam case, also ensured that Sinh was protected by over 130 CRP commandos although he had no threat to his life, sources have told NDTV.
The MHA Protection Review Group (PRG) and the Security Categorisation Committee (SCG), which evaluates and recommends security cover for VIPs, had recommended that Mr Sinh's threat level did not warrant 130 commandos, rather 3 policemen would be enough, sources said.
The committee comprises of security experts, intelligence officials and carries out a review of possible threat to life based on intelligence inputs.
Sources said Mr Goswami accepted the recommendation of the committee to downgrade the security cover of as many as 25 others but ignored the recommendations in Mr Sinh's case. Those whose security has been downgraded or removed completely include former Union Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and Jiten Prasad, former CBI Director Joginder Singh, Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Rita Bahugna, and Congress MP PL Punia.
The fact that recommendations for downgrading or completely removal of security cover was accepted in almost all cases except that of Mr Sinh did raise eyebrows.
"The reasons why assessment in Sinh's case was ignored was not clear and was never communicated back to us," a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official told NDTV.
In related development, the Ministry of Home Affairs has extended or increased the security cover for nine other politicians, including the Bihar BJP chief Mangal Pande, Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Brig Bhushan Saran, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Brajesh Pathak and Dhananjay Singh.
On Wednesday, the government had asked Anil Goswami to resign after he admitted to making a telephone call to the CBI on behalf of Mr Sinh, who was arrested last week in the Saradha chit fund case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation alleges there were large, unexplained transactions worth Rs. 30 crore between Mr Sinh and Saradha, which need investigation.