CRPF takes over security of Gandhis
India TV NewsThe CRPF has taken over the security duties of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka on Monday after the Union government withdrew their SPG cover last week, officials said. The Central Reserve Police Force, which has a special VVIP security unit, has been asked to provide a 'Z+' cover to the Gandhi family on an all-India basis by the Union home ministry after the Special Protection Group security was removed. The decision to withdraw the SPG cover given to the family of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by LTTE terrorists on May 21, 1991, was taken after a detailed security assessment, officials had said last week. The CRPF, the designated lead force for conducting anti-Naxal operations and internal security tasks in the country, has about 52 other VVIPs under its cover, including Union home minister Amit Shah, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Neeta Ambani.