Jammu and Kashmir: Former CMs lose elite security cover as state administration downsizes SSG

Former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir will no longer be entitled to get the elite Special Security Group (SSG) protection following a decision by the Union Territory’s administration to downsize the special force. Those who were getting SSG protection included Farooq Abdullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. The SSG, established in 2000, will now be entrusted with the security of serving chief ministers and their immediate family members.

The Home Department of Jammu and Kashmir issued an order directing the Additional Director General of Police, Security, to implement the recommendation by the Security Review and Coordination Committee that analyses the threat perception to important leaders. The committee has advised downsizing the SSG to a bare minimum.

Now, Farooq Abdullah and Azad will continue to get the security cover of the National Security Guard as both of them are Z-plus protectees. Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba will continue to have Z-plus security cover while in Jammu and Kashmir, but are likely to have reduced security outside the union territory.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration’s decision comes around 20 months after the Centre had issued a gazette notification ‘Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020’ on March 31, 2020, amending the Special Security Group Act of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir government by omitting a clause that provided former chief ministers and their families with SSG security.

The government order said that the SSG will be right-sized by reducing the number of the elite force and will be headed by an officer below the rank of Superintendent of Police as against Director, who is of the rank of Inspector General of Police and above.