File picture of a bomb jammer

Guwahati, Jan. 23: The fresh run of terror by Ulfa since the beginning of the year and the outfit’s threat to eliminate Congress leaders have finally forced the Centre to concede to the state police’s demand to put chief minister Tarun Gogoi under National Security Guard (NSG) cover.

The Telegraph had recently reported about Dispur’s requisition to the Centre to elevate the security cover for the chief minister, who is under threat from the proscribed Ulfa as well as Islamic fundamentalists. Police sources said at least 16 fundamentalist groups were active in the state.

Director-general of police (DGP) R.K. Mathur too confirmed that the chief minister’s security has been beefed up to Z+ category. After assessing the latest threat perception, the state police had enhanced the security and accordingly moved the Centre for providing the NSG cover, which has been granted recently.

With the enhanced security Gogoi’s convoy now includes a jammer, a vehicle which carries sophisticated electronic equipment to prevent explosions through remote control and blocks cellphone network within a radius of 150 metres.

A senior police official said the inclusion of a jammer car would reduce the threat perception considerably, “Prior to the arrival of the jammer vehicle, we were always concerned about the probable attack by the militants on the chief minister’s convoy. It was a much-needed inclusion in the fleet,” said a senior home department official.

The NSG would form the inner security ring of the chief minister. Till now the state police commandos were responsible for the chief minister’s security.

There are only a handful of VIPs in the country who are provided with such tight security. They include among others former deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta enjoys Z+ security in the state.

Raised as a federal contingency deployment force, the NSG was modelled on the lines of the forces in Britain and Germany.

Only yesterday there was a major breach in the chief minister’s security in Silchar. A person walked through the chief minister’s security cordon and walked up to the podium where Gogoi was sitting to seek financial help from him.