Sovan Chatterjee security cover trimmed

Kolkata: The security cover of heavyweight Trinamul Congress minister and Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee has been trimmed by the Mamata Banerjee government, close on the heels of reports of his legal battle with his estranged wife Ratna Chatterjee.

Mr Chatterjee, who is the fire minister apart from being ministers of two more key departments: environment and housing, recently alleged about police inaction into his complaint against Ms Chatterjee of trespassing and criminal intimidation.

According to sources, Mr Chatterjee, who so far enjoyed Z-plus category security cover, will now get only Z category protection.

A senior police officer said on Wednesday, “Based on the recommendations of the Directorate of Security which reviews the security status of protectees from time to time, the security status of Kolkata mayor has been changed from Z+ to Z.”

This would mean there will be lesser number of vehicles and security personnel in his convoy, sources revealed.

The police officer disclosed that the security cover status of two other cabinet ministers, Arup Biswas in charge of sports and Firhad Hakim in charge of urban development and municipal affairs, has been upgraded from ‘Y’ to ‘Z’ category.