The Mumbai Police has downgraded the security of around 40 Bollywood celebrities, including Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, after an annual assessment of threat perception.
The officials said reviewing security cover of celebrities is a routine practice and there is nothing new in it. They also pointed out that the move was aimed at trimming unwanted security cover.
Aamir and Shah Rukh were provided extra security last year after they faced severe retaliation for their remarks on 'intolerance' from political parties and various outfits.
Among those who will not get security from the Mumbai Police any more are directors Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani and Farah Khan.
Also downgraded are producers Karim Morani and Ali Morani, who were given police security after gangsters fired at Ali's house in 2014.
Following the trimming of security for certain Bollywood celebrities, including Aamir Khan, the Congress reignited the 'intolerance' debate and alleged that the actor was paying the cost for expressing his opinion against the Narendra Modi government.
Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewalla dubbed the move as a 'tit-for-tat' on the part of the ruling dispensation.
"First reports emanated that Incredible India icon Aamir Khan, who is a renowned actor, was suddenly removed. Has it arisen on account of the free expression of opinion and the atmosphere on intolerance that Aamir spoke about? Is it a tit-for-tat that the Modi government has now become famous for," Surjewalla told ANI.
Further hitting out at the Centre over the security nix, he added that the 'trimming' had been done for those people who had expressed concern on the growing atmosphere of intolerance and if this was the government's way of sending a message.
"It definitely raises a question that is this being done only for law and order or is it an exercise to send a message, that if you criticise the Modi government then you will be punished in more ways than one," Surjewalla added.
However, the Centre downplayed Aamir's security being nixed and said that such a call had been made only after a thorough assessment.
"Agencies who work in the field of security make such calls only after a thorough assessment. This is a common process of theirs to decide which actor or politician needs what level of security," Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told ANI.
