New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS): More than 19,000 VIPs were provided round-the-clock police protection for more than six months in 2019 across the country, for which over 66,000 police personnel were deployed.
Ministers, members of Parliament (MPs) and Legislative Assemblies (MLAs), Judges and bureaucrats were among these VIPs who got police security cover given by the states and Union Territories (UTs) concerned on the basis of requirement and analysis of threat perception.
It was indicated in the data on Police Organisations (DoPO), compiled by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), which mentioned that the trend was followed in all 37 states and Union Territories (UTs).
As per the data, released on Tuesday, 19,467 people were provided police protection for more than six months in 2019, involving 66,043 police personnel.
In 2018, 21,300 VIPs were given police protection by 63,061 police personnel.
In 2019, West Bengal was on the top among all states and UTs in terms of the number of protectees -- 3,142 persons -- given security by 6,247 police personnel. Punjab was second with 2,594 protectees, and Bihar third with 2,347 persons.
In Punjab, a total of 7,714 police personnel were deployed for security cover, followed by 5,611 in Bihar. Haryana had 1,355 protectees, Jharkhand 1,351, Assam 1,199, and Jammu and Kashmir 1,184.
Only one protectee was provided security by a single policeman in Dadar and Nagar Haveli. Two persons were given police protection in Daman and Diu and five in Lakshadweep.
In the national capital, 501 protectees were provided security cover for more than six months, for which 8,182 police personnel were put on duty -- the maximum numbers deployed for protection duty across the country.
Security cover is provided to VIPs by each states and UTs from its sanctioned capacity, which was enhanced to 43,566 in 2019 from 40,031 in 2018. The facility is provided to VIPs as per their mandatory security requirement or threat perception. The number of personnel engaged in security duty of a particular person is decided by the state and UT authorities.