india

Updated: Jul 02, 2019 23:39 IST

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday directed the state government to submit details on the security being provided to Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

A high court bench headed by Justice U Durga Prasad issued notice to the state government to this effect asking it to submit a detailed affidavit by July 9.

The court was acting on a petition filed by the TDP president, questioning the YSR Congress government’s decision to drastically reduce the security cover to him in the past one month. Naidu sought the court’s directions to the state government to restore the security to him, in the wake of threat perception from the Maoists.

Naidu survived a claymore mine bomb attack by the Maoists in October 2003 and has since been provided with the Z plus security cover, involving commandos from the elite National Security Guard.

The state government had last week withdrawn two senior police officers, apart from a 15-member special police team headed by two inspectors from Naidu’s security. Senior advocate Subba Rao, who represented the former chief minister in court, said the government had deliberately scaled down the security to Naidu and his family members only on political grounds.

“Apart from Maoists, Naidu also has a threat to his life from red sanders smugglers, because of the stringent action he had taken against them during his tenure,” Rao said. State advocate general Subrahmanyam Sriram, however, said Naidu was being given more security than what he was entitled to as the leader of opposition.

“In all, 74 security personnel have been providing him security in different shifts and at different places, including National Security Guards provided by the Centre... As an opposition leader, he is entitled to only 58 security personnel,” the advocate general said.

The high court judge, however, directed that the government submit a report on the security being provided to Naidu along with details of all the security personnel, by July 9. The YSRCP government had also withdrawn security at Naidu’s residence in Amaravati and also in his native place.