The Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force (UPSSF) has been tasked with guarding the Chief Minister’s Office (Lok Bhawan). UPSSF personnel have been deployed at all the three gates of Lok Bhawan. All these jawans are equipped with state-of-the-art weapons.
Till now, UP Police and UP Secretariat security personnel were deployed in the security of Lok Bhavan. A unit of UPSSF has been prepared and 52 personnel deployed for the purpose.
DCP (Central Lucknow) Aparna Rajat Kaushik said Lucknow police and PAC had reviewed the security of Lok Bhawan on Wednesday. After the review, it was decided that the UPSSF would guard all the three entry gates of Lok Bhawan. A unit of UPSSF was deployed on Thursday. The unit comprises eight sub-inspectors and 48 constables. They will be posted in two shifts. The DCP said that the UPSSF personnel deployed at Lok Bhawan have advanced versions of later security gadgets. She said the personnel of UP Police, Arms Force and PAC have been included in this force. All the personnel were iparted a 90-day training in Sitapur.
The Uttar Pradesh government has formed a special security force for the security of major places of the state capital such as Lok Bhawan, Vidhan Bhawan, airport, court premises, metro stations and big commercial establishments. Five units of this force have been prepared.
In September 2020, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh had issued a notification to constitute the UPSSF which is headed by ADG (PAC) S Pratap Kumar.
This force will not require a magistrate’s order or warrant to conduct a search operation or arrest under special circumstances. These powers will be governed through a set of rules made by the state government. The UPSSF has been formed on the basis of the Allahabad High Court orders.
The HC had expressed its displeasure over security in civil courts in December 2019 in the wake of firing incidents in the courts of Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar.
The court had directed the state government to constitute a special force for security in the court premises. On June 26, 2020, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced the formation of the force and it was given the green signal in a cabinet meeting in September.