200 people in Mumbai get heightened security

Mukesh Ambani will pay Rs 15-16 lakh per month for his Z-class security cover

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is one among 200 people in Mumbai who are provided heightened security by the central government.

The categories are Z plus, Z, Y and X category.

The Z category security that Ambani will get means that a security contingent comprising armed commando squad will guard him 24x7, and is given to only those who have a very high security threat perception.

Apart from a few politicians and government servants, the rest comprising industrialists, film stars and builders have to pay for their cost.

According to home ministry rules, the deployment of troopers for Ambani will also be on cost-reimbursement basis. Ambani would have to pay Rs 15-16 lakh per month for the additional security and will also provide barracks for the security personnel.
    
A senior police official said though Ambani has his own private security guards, they are not allowed to carry weapons of higher calibre and sophistication.

The official said Ambani had received similar threat through an unnamed letter in 2008, though no group or force had revealed their identity. The city police had then considered setting up a special police chowkie at his house in south Mumbai.

“However, there was no further movement. But in the wake of the recent threat from Indian Mujahdeen, Ambani will be given  24x7 protection of 28 commandoes of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The city police has also revive the earlier move to set up a police chowkie at Ambani’s residencial premises. The security by the city police will also beefed up and beat officials will also be directed to keep a close vigil of Ambani’s residence and office.
 
Another official said 90% of the security staff currently deployed by Ambani are retired officials of the National Security Guard (NSG).

“Practically, it will now be a two-tier security cover for Ambani with his  own security personnel and CRPF,” the official added.
 
Meanwhile, MN Singh, former city police commissioner justified the home ministry's decision to provide CRPF security cover to Mukesh Ambani. "The decision must have been taken based on the threat perception analysis. Ambani has played a key role in the country's economic growth and the government is duty-bound to protect him," he said.