The Hindu : Security tightened at residence of Sheila Dikshit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 04, 2004

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Security tightened at residence of Sheila Dikshit

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI JAN.3. Security has been tightened at the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit's residence here following the incident in which a person was caught planting money inside her house. Access inside the house would be restricted.

Terming the incident as ``unfortunate'', the Chief Minister said she had been forced to have a re-look at the ``open-door policy'' she had adopted at her residence to meet visitors. Now there will be more frisking, security checks and, of course, barriers in place to make the whole residence safe and secure.

A new feature would be setting up of a gate at the backside entrance of her residence to prevent people from barging into her lawn or kitchen, a common feature during the last two months in view of the Assembly polls. This gate will also control the entry of people into the office of Ms. Dikshit adjoining the house and where she often meets people with appointment.

``I have been following an open-darbar policy. People are allowed into my house at any given time and I prefer to meet them in the open. I do not like regulating the entry of the people but now some measures would be put in place to keep a close watch on entry of suspicious elements,'' Ms. Dikshit remarked.

In fact, Ms. Dikshit is understood to have discussed the matter with some senior security people. She had also reportedly had a long discussion on the issue with the Police Commissioner, R. S. Gupta. However, Ms. Dikshit is learnt to be upset at the behaviour of a senior police official who reportedly went out of the way to brief mediapersons on the incident and tried to put the blame on Ms. Dikshit's staff and her relatives.

Meanwhile, people who come with appointments and those who come impromptu would be segregated and put in different places. People would not be allowed to stroll in the front or back lawn.

It has also been decided to post at least two security personnel round the clock around the office of the Chief Minister to prevent the entry of unwanted people inside her office, that is often used by her sister, Rama Dhawan, to deal with the problems relating to Ms. Dikshit's Gole Market constituency.

Any person who does not have an appointment with Ms. Dikshit will not get entry into her office inside her residence. ``The problem is that during the recent Assembly polls, the entire premises had become an open house. Anybody could just walk into the house and my dinning or drawing rooms. Now entry will regulated,'' she added.

The security personnel are planning to cordon off the entire house from the official working area and are understood to have advised the Chief Minister to meet visitors in her office rather than her residence.

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