NEW DELHI, Dec 15: If you always wanted to know precisely how Sonia Gandhi's security detail is deployed, you needn't be afraid to ask any more. The interim report of the Jain Commission, which was tabled in Parliament, has all the dope on the denizens of 10, Janpath. Ordinarily, such candour would be hailed as a triumph of transparency. The trouble is that the lowdown on Sonia is taken from a police document marked `Top Secret'.In his wisdom, Justice M C Jain has chosen to make public the standard operating procedures of VIP protection, which should never be common knowledge. Though it can have little bearing on a quest for conspiracy, he has included in his report a detailed deposition by SPG Director Shyamal Datta on the structure of an SPG detail for the Prime Minister, which can have serious security implications. An extract from Volume IV of the report.``In the house, there is an outer perimeter manned by SPG personnel and inner perimeter of SPG manning different points, and close protection detail for the proximate security of the VVIP. When he is on the move, he is escorted by his close protection detail and the second escort component.'' For proximate security in the zone of isolation around the VVIP, there are six officers of the rank of sub-inspector and up, besides three officers of at least the rank of assistant sub-inspector.``There is a close protection detail in which there are six persons. The concept of PSO (personal security officer) is mixed. All the six collectively perform the task of proximate security. It is an interwoven system.''More detailed revelations on precisely how 10, Janpath is sanitised follow in Volume XII, in a Delhi police circular marked `Top Secret'. It includes the round-the-clock deployment of six CRPF guards armed with SLRs (see box).Besides, a striking reserve of National Security Guards is accommodated in the guardroom near the front gate. A force of 1-4 is available round the clock to neutralise the threat from obvious armed intrusions.The report also offers a complete breakup of the force to be deployed for the security of the Gandhi family, including PSOs, screening officers, pilots, escorts, commandos and the three security cordons. There are details of security cover extended to every member of the family when they are travelling - and when they are most vulnerable. At all times, they will be accompanied by two PSOs, one armed with a 9 mm pistol, the other with a sten-gun.
