AK-47 wielding security personnel have been assigned to
accompany Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Home Secretary G.K. Pillai during
their routine official work following Maoist threats to their lives.
Official sources said Monday that intelligence agencies had
advised the government to enhance the security of the two VIPs, after they
intercepted Maoist messages “planning revenge” for the killing of Communist
Party of India-Maoist leader and spokesperson Cherkuri Rajkumar alias Azad in
Andhra Pradesh recently.
Earlier, Chidambaram and Pillai were accompanied by security
personnel carrying small arms. The number of security officials accompanying
the two have also been enhanced.
Official sources said all offices and buildings to be
visited by Chidambaram and Pillai would be subjected to stricter searches.
Azad, a key member of the central committee of the outlawed
CPI-Maoists, was killed in an gunfight with Andhra Pradesh Police in the
jungles bordering Maharashtra. However, the
Maoists alleged that it was a staged gunfight.
Civil rights activists had demanded a judicial probe into
the killing of Azad.
Government sources said the intelligence reports spoke of
“doing something spectacular” against the “rulers in Delhi” to avenge the killing of Azad, and
therefore the security cover for Chidambaram and Pillai have been upgraded.
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