KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
It created panic within the security set up that secures the Chief Minister when Ms Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday decided to see files in the lawns of the civil secretariat. Politics apart, it was obvious that she wanted to sit under vitamin-D rich sun and have fresh air around.
Witnesses said that they were surprised when security men started establishing a temporary office in the lawns of the civil secretariat within minutes after the offices started. As a chair and a table with a few visitor chairs were set up, they said they were shocked when Chief Minister walked to the spot and started working from there when one of her aides came with a bunch of files.
While it has happened that Chief Minister’s landed within the premises of the civil secretariat and that various ministers, including Chief Ministers, attended the prayers in lawns; this was for the first time that a Chief Minister set up office in the lawns. Though before 1990 it would not have raised any eyebrows but after the militancy, especially after 1996, Chief Minister and his/her family continues to be the most protected group in the state because of the threat perception. In fact the state government has Special Services Group (SSG) created to take care of this job and it costs the state quite dearly.
Reports said that the Chief Minister worked in the lawns for almost an hour and then she walked in to her office. It was not immediately known if the SSG had okayed her idea of working in the lawns given the security situation around.
At one point of time, the civil secretariat was being guarded by cops by dominating most of the high rise buildings surrounding it. This was the clear security protocol when the assembly was in session. The twin decisions were later withdrawn after the militancy ebbed and the assembly complex shifted from Sherghari Palace to the erstwhile Gool Bagh premises facing the civil secretariat. The tight guard of the secretariat followed after militants mounted a rocket attack on the secretariat in which at least one employee was killed.
