Under fire for withdrawing security for Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Lone, who was assassinated here last week, the state today made a scapegoat of the chief of J-K Police’s security wing, Inspector-General Ashok Bhan.Sources said it was CM Farooq Abdullah who decided to minimise the cover for separatist leaders on the ground it was morally difficult to engage police for protecting secessionists. The CM had, in fact, talked about it in the previous assembly session at Jammu.IG Bhan had been heading the security wing for six months. He has been transferred to Sher-e-Kashmir Police Academy in Udhampur. He was shifted as Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah was telling a TV channel ‘‘Lone had been provided with much better security than many of the ruling NC leaders.’’Sources say the NC government has been under severe pressure from the Centre to take some action on the issue of Lone’s poor security cover. Bhan’s scalp came handy. He had been responsible for a comprehensive review of the threat perception and streamlining it, especially since getting security cover had become a status symbol in Kashmir. Based on new assessment, he had withdrawn the security officers of about 200 people.He was responsible for conducting a thorough probe into allegations of misuse of protective cover and found over 250 PSOs actually working as domestic servants and cooks with various VIPs. The security of several senior bureaucrats and even ministers had been slashed during his short tenure.The other reason being cited for Bhan’s removal, sources say, is that the government has to make large-scale procurement of bullet-proof vehicles for protected persons in view of the elections. ‘‘Bhan was a hurdle because he would have never allowed any corruption in the procurement process,’’ a senior police officer said.
