Credit: Twitter
The Chairman of the ICC Men's Cricket Committee and the Director of Cricket for the IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, Sourav Ganguly's security cover has been upgraded to the ‘Z’ category. Reportedly, the decision has been made by the West Bengal government, and as per an official, it comes as the tenure of his Y category security came to an end on May 16.
Earlier in the Y category security cover, the 50-year-old Ganguly used to get three policemen from the special branch as well as an equal number of law enforcers guarding his residence. As per the new security category, the former India skipper will be provided with eight to ten personnel guarding him.
PTI quoted the official saying, "As the security cover of the VVIP expired, a review was done as per the protocol, and it was decided to raise Ganguly's security cordon to Z category." On Tuesday, a meeting was held at the Behala office of Ganguly between the representatives of the state secretariat, Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar, and the local police station. The official further added, "Ganguly is currently travelling with his team Delhi Daredevils and will return to Kolkata on May 21. He will start getting Z category security from that very day."
If we talk about the security covers of VVIPs in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, and Trinamool Congress MP and national secretary Abhishek Banerjee have access to the Z+ category security cover, whereas a few ministers get the Z security cover. Notably, the Z security cover is accorded to high-security individuals by the police and the local government. The tier of the security accorded is depended on the threat perception to the person in question. The Z category is a security detail of 22 personnel, which includes 4-6 NSG commandos and police personnel.
Meanwhile, Ganguly is currently with DC who are the first team to be eliminated from the IPL 2023 playoff contention and are placed at the bottom of the points table with just four wins in 12 matches. The Capitals will play their next match against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Wednesday followed by their home game against Chennai Super Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
