Suvendu security tightened with bullet-proof vehicle
Suvendu Adhikari has started using a bulletproof vehicle following security alerts after data records of Hamim Mondal, an alleged Jaish-e-Muhammad terror mole who was arrested last week, indicated that he had been instructed by his handlers in Pakistan to follow the movements of the Bengal Chief Minister.
Adhikari started using a white bulletproof vehicle late on Sunday evening when he travelled back from Contai, his ancestral home in East Midnapore, to Kolkata. The shift in his security protocol commenced following alerts from the Special Task Force regarding threats from ISI-backed JeM and Kashmir-based Shahjad Bhatti network. Digital data found on Mondal revealed how he had been instructed by his Pakistani handlers through high-tech devices to digitally track Adhikari’s day-to-day movements.
The STF on Friday had arrested Mondal from the Renaissance Township of East Burdwan. Leads obtained after his arrest also led the agency to arrest two of his accomplices: Arpita Sarkar from Sahibganj in Jharkhand and Aditya Singh from Howrah. Singh was arrested on Monday.
A police officer said that though a bulletproof vehicle had been included in the Chief Minister’s security protocol, he preferred not to use the same lest it would restrict his movement and interaction with the people during travels.
Earlier, several State ministers, including Agnimitra Paul, had urged the Chief Minister to use bulletproof vehicles considering security threats.
The introduction of bulletproof vehicles also comes months after his close associate Chandranath Rath, who was shot dead while travelling in his vehicle barely a day after the Bengal election results were declared.
While former Bengal Chief Ministers Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya utilised bulletproof vehicles particularly after an alleged landmine attack on the latter, their successor Mamata Banerjee would not use it after she became the Chief Minister in 2011.
