MHA upgrades Assam CM Sarma's security cover to Z plus

New Delhi/Guwahati, Oct 14 The Union Home Ministry has accorded Z plus security cover to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, from his existing Z category, officials said on Friday.

Officials said that the security arrangement of Assam Chief Minister was recently reviewed in consultation with the central security agencies.

"The Chief Minister would be provided Z plus security cover on an all India basis," an official said.

Sarma's predecessors - Sarbananda Sonowal, Tarun Gogoi, and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta - enjoyed NSG protection based on threat perception in insurgency-hit Assam. Three-term Chief Minister (2001-2015) Gogoi's NSG cover was replaced with the CRPF in 2016 after BJP came to power. Similarly, Mahanta's NSG cover was reduced by the Union Home Ministry in 2019 but he was granted Z plus security in 2017.

Sarma had been a CRPF protectee since 2017 while he was Minister in the previous Sonowal government.