Agnipath Scheme Protest: Centre to provide 'Y' category security to 10 Bihar BJP leaders including Deputy CM

Ten Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Bihar including Deputy Chief Minister and MLAs were given 'Y' category round-the-clock armed security cover by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), sources said on Saturday.

The CRPF is taking over the security cover from Saturday after it received the Union Home Ministry's order on Friday, a top government official privy to the development told ANI.

The 'Y' category cover involves the deployment of four to five armed commandos in close proximity to the protectee.

The security cover came in wake of the protests against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme which grew more virulent on June 17 in Bihar, where a mob attacked Deputy CM Renu Devi's house, besides causing damage to railway property and disrupting normal life in a number of districts, said another official.

In three days, around 620 people have been arrested and 130 First Information Reports have been registered in Bihar, said Sanjay Singh ADG, Law and Order on protests against the Agnipath recruitment scheme, adding "140 people have been arrested on Saturday".

As per East Central Railway, several trains were cancelled while many were terminated due to prevailing law and order problems and threat perception to railway property and passengers in Bihar.

Bihar has been witnessing agitations since June 15, a day after the government came out with Agnipath, new scheme for recruitment in armed forces. The government has been appealing to the protestors not to protest and understand the new recruitment programme of the military. The government has also been announcing more supportive measures to the Agniveers after their four-year service ends in the armed forces.

(ANI)