Z+ security prevents UP CM Akhilesh Yadav from enjoying tiger safari in MP

BHOPAL: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had to pay dearly for having a Z plus security cover at a tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
National Security Guards (NSG) commandos prevented the UP CM and his family from going for a safari at Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve (BTR) in the state’s Umeria district on Tuesday morning after forest authorities stopped them from carrying their high-end firearms inside the prohibited area, said sources.
Akhilesh Yadav was provided Z plus category security soon after he took over as CM based on an increased threat perception in October 2012.Z plus category has a security cover of 36 personnel. His father and former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav too has NSG security cover.
Akhilesh Yadav reached Umeria with his wife and children on Monday evening followed by six NSG commandos.
When all of them were ready to move for a morning safari, BTR management asked NSG commandos to surrender their weapons, before entering the reserve, citing rules of Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
While BTR officials maintained their stand on strict compliance of rules, NSG guards argued that protocol of Z plus security cover cannot be violated as it mandates armed commando squad to guard him all 24 hours in a day. Thus Yadav had to cancel the morning safari, said sources.
Giving example of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a BTR official told TOI that he always keeps his armed security guards outside the protected area.
“I have never seen MP CM taking his armed guards inside the protected area. Most often he is accompanied by a senior bureaucrat. As per rule we cannot allow anyone to take a weapon inside the park,” said the officer wishing anonymity.
When the matter surfaced Samajwadi Party workers staged protest shouting slogans against the park management outside the BTR office.
Meanwhile Yadav and his family who were accommodated in BTR’s Mahua Koti area would be shifting to another resort in the area this evening, said sources.