The Union government has directed the withdrawal of National Security Guard (NSG) commandos from VIP security duties, transferring the protection of nine "high-risk" VIPs to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) by next month, official sources said. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the addition of a new battalion, recently withdrawn from Parliament security, to be attached to the CRPF's VIP security division.

The nine 'Z-plus' category VIPs currently guarded by NSG 'black cat' commandos, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BSP leader Mayawati, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, DPAP President Ghulam Nabi Azad, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, will now receive security from the CRPF. This transition is expected to be completed within a month.

The CRPF, which currently has six battalions dedicated to VIP security, has been tasked with absorbing a seventh battalion. This new battalion previously handled Parliament security before its responsibilities were transferred to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) following a security breach last year.

Recently, a team from the Andhra Pradesh Police visited Delhi to facilitate the transition of the state’s Chief Minister's security from NSG to CRPF. Two of the nine VIPs, Rajnath Singh and Yogi Adityanath, will also have advanced security liaison (ASL) protocols provided by the CRPF, which involves pre-visit reconnaissance of locations.

The plan to withdraw NSG from VIP security has been under discussion since 2012. NSG commanders envisioned that simultaneous terror attacks across multiple locations could require the rapid deployment of commandos, making it necessary to relieve them from VIP security duties. The MHA's decision to restructure the NSG, allowing it to focus solely on counter-terrorism and counter-hijacking operations, aims to better utilize its specialist capabilities.

This move will free up around 450 'black cat' commandos for other essential duties. Once the withdrawal is complete, the NSG will return to its original mandate, handling high-risk operations rather than VIP protection, a responsibility that has been seen as a "burden" on its limited resources.

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