The Yogi Adityanath government has issued a notification for the formation of the Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force (UPSSF). The UPSSF will be responsible for the security of important government buildings, offices and industrial establishments in the state.
The force is being constituted on the lines of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and will be deployed at places like metro rail, airports, industrial institutions, courts, religious places, banks and other financial institutions. Private companies will also be able to take the services of UPSSF on payment.
The headquarters of the UPSSF will be in Lucknow and an ADG-level officer will head the force. Initially, five battalions of UPSSF will be formed. The proposal for the constitution of a special force came on the directions of the Allahabad High Court after incidents of violence were reported in the premises of courts in December last year.
Briefing reporters in Lucknow, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, “The state government has given orders for the constitution of a special security force. A roadmap in this regard has been sought from the UP DGP. This is a dream project of the UP chief minister. The basis of this force is an order of the high court, which had ordered that there should be a specialised force for civil courts. In all, there will be 9,919 personnel in the force.”
“This is a dream project of the UP chief minister. The basis of this force is an order of the High Court, which had ordered that there should be a specialised force for civil courts. In all, there will be 9,919 personnel in the force,” he added.
This force will have the powers to search without any warrant. Members of this force will also be able to arrest any person without the orders of a magistrate or a warrant, the statement said.
The Incidents that led to SSF!!
On December 18, 2019, the Allahabad high court had pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government over a shootout at a Bijnor courtroom.
Three assailants had on December 17, 2019, opened fire in the court of the Bijnor chief judicial magistrate, killing a murder accused and injuring three others - two policemen and a court employee.
Also Read: China hands over 5 missing Arunachal youths
The Muzaffarnagar court had witnessed a similar incident in 2015, when an armed man entered the courtroom masquerading as a lawyer and shot dead Vicky Tyagi, an alleged gangster.
Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council, Darvesh Kumari Yadav, 36, was shot dead by a colleague in her chamber on the civil court premises in Agra on June 13, 2019.
A two-judge high court bench had said that most incompetent police personnel are being posted at the courts, adding that it will seek the deployment of central forces if the state government is not up to the task.