Ramdev Now A ‘Client’ Of CISF For His Food Park
NEW DELHI: Yoga guru Ramdev’s food park in Haridwar will be protected around the clock by armed commandos from the paramilitary force of the Central Industrial Security Force or CISF.
CISF Director General Surender Singh said the “client”– Patanjali Food and Herbal Park Private Limited– will bear the entire cost of the deployment.
A squad of 35 CISF men had been assigned to the park in Uttarakhand at the facility last year after one person died following clashes between security guards at the food park and truckers who were upset with out-of-state operators being used.
It is highly unusual for the government to offer CISF cover to the private sector. The food park will be the eighth such unit which will be guarded by the paramilitary force after it was first mandated for such tasks after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed.
The other seven companies guarded by the CISF include the Infosys campuses in Bengaluru, Mysore and Pune.Officials said the annual expenditure for the CISF protection at the multi-acre food park is estimated to be about Rs. 40 lakhs and barracks and vehicles will also be provided by the “client”.
Ramdev, a yoga expert whose business empire is worth thousands of crores of rupees and creates personal care and food products, is himself a ‘Z’ category protectee of central paramilitary forces, reserved for people assessed as especially vulnerable to terror threats.
Routine entry and exit at the food park will be regulated by the staff and private security hired by the client, said unnamed officials to news agency pti.
