Security tightened for Sonia Gandhi and children

by Suranee | April 8, 2009 at 11:23 pm

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As she continues on her campaign trail for the Lok Sabha polls, Sonia Gandhi and her children will be given tighter security due to rumors circulating that the family of three are under threat by the LTTE.

NEW DELHI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her children -- Rahul and Priyanka -- face a threat from the banned LTTE prompting the Union ministry to issue an alert to states to provide tight security cover during their visits.

Although there has not been any evidence to prove these threats are from the LTTE, India’s intelligence services say the inflammatory language being used by the terrorist group’s supporter in India was a cause for concern.

Sources in the intelligence services have told The Hindu that while there is no substantive intelligence to indicate that assassinations or attacks have been ordered by the LTTE, the inflammatory language being used by the terrorist group’s supporter in India was a cause for concern.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a general alert asking the director generals of police of all states to maintain strict vigil when the Gandhi family members travel to the states.

With the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 by the LTTE, all states including the southern states were asked to be extra vigilant of the family during their visits to each of the states.

With the campaign for the forthcoming general elections slowly reaching a crescendo, the ministry has issued a general alert asking the director generals of police of all states to maintain strict vigil when the Gandhi family members travel to the states.

Officials said the alert specifically asked the southern states to keep a close watch of the visit of Gandhi family keeping in mind that the LTTE had carried out an attack on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinating him during the run-up for elections in 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

Another advisory was issued by the Centre to the police chiefs to review the security of 11 Chief Ministers of different states, who are facing threat from terrorists and Naxals.

The Centre has already issued an advisory to the police chiefs to review the security of 11 Chief Ministers of different states, who are facing threat from terrorists and Naxals.

The 10 CMs include Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (West Bengal), Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh), Naveen Patnaik (Orissa), Ashok Chavan (Maharashtra), Narendra Singh Modi (Gujarat) and Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), official sources said.

Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Manipur's Okram Ibobi Singh and K Karnunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, are also in the list.