Pawar wonders if Z plus security an attempt to get authentic information

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has said that the Z plus security cover accorded to him could be an arrangement to get authentic information about him as Maharashtra assembly polls are around the corner.

The Centre on Wednesday accorded Z plus the highest category of armed VIP security cover to Pawar, official sources had said.

Asked about the security upgrade for him, the 83-year-old politician told the media in Navi Mumbai on Thursday that he wasn't aware of the reason behind the move.

A home ministry official told me that the government has decided to give three persons Z plus security and I was one of them. I asked who the other two were. I was told RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Union home minister Amit Shah, said Pawar.

Maybe since elections are approaching, this can be an arrangement to get authentic information (about me), he quipped.

A team of 55 armed personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been earmarked as part of Pawar's Z plus security cover. A threat .