Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

UP GOVT REVIEWS SECURITY OF 59 PEOPLE

- HT Correspond­ent lkoreporte­rsdesk@htlive.com

LUCKNOW : The Uttar Pradesh government has revised the security of 59 persons, including litigants and religious leaders associated with the Ayodhya title suit, days after the Supreme Court decided the case handing over the disputed land to Hindus while ruling that Muslims must get a five-acre alternativ­e plot. A home department officer said, “The security of the litigants and religious leaders was analyzed after the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. In view of the threat perception and on the basis of the intelligen­ce input, the security of some people was revised.”

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has revised the security of 59 persons, including litigants and religious leaders associated with the Ayodhya title suit, days after the Supreme Court decided the case handing over the disputed land to Hindus while ruling that Muslims must get a five-acre alternativ­e plot.

A home department officer said, “The security of the litigants and religious leaders was analyzed after the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.

In view of the threat perception and on the basis of the intelligen­ce input, the security of some people was revised.”

Keeping in mind the threat perception, the security for those linked with the Ayodhya case has been either strengthen­ed or downgraded.

The chairman of the UP Shia Central Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi and the chairman of UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, Zufar Farooqi, will now get upped security.

The security of cabinet minister Suresh Rana and Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi has been enhanced to Z plus while BJP MLA Sangeet Som, who has been in the limelight for controvers­ial statements, will also get Z plus security instead of the earlier Y plus security.

Former ministers Ramveer Upadhyay and Naresh Agarwal will get Y plus protection.

The security of Iqbal Ansari, a litigant in Ayodhya dispute case as well as that of the former lawmaker Ram Vilas Vedanti, who is a senior member of Ramjanambh­oomi Nyas, has also been strengthen­ed.

The Y plus security given to mediators in Ayodhya dispute, including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,

Justice Kafiullah and Sri Ram Panchu, has been withdrawn.

The landmark November 9 order was preceded by appeals for calm by top religious and political leaders and a nationwide security alert to prevent any attempt by miscreants to inflame tempers in a case that has been followed intently by the Hindu and Muslim community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict and said the decision taken ‘amicably’ will ‘further strengthen’ confidence in the judicial system.

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