Railway police withdrawn from Lalu Prasad's house

Patna, May 19 (IANS) Now that he has ceased to be railways minister, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has lost out on some of the trappings that go along with the senior position. The security cover of the Railway Protection Force has been withdrawn from his Patna residence, official sources said Tuesday.

An order to withdraw the security cover was issued to the RPF from the concerned department. An RPF official here said that the security cover to Lalu Prasad was withdrawn following an order from above. 'We have to follow the order, it is our duty,' he said.

The RPF security cover was removed from Lalu Prasad's 1, Anne Marg house which happens to be the official residence of his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi here.

Lalu Prasad has been accorded Z-plus security by the central home ministry due to the threat perception to him from Maoists and the Ranvir Sena, a private militia of upper caste land owners.

After the rout of his RJD in the Lok Sabha elections, Lalu Prasad has offered the Congress-led new United Progressive Alliance government his party's unconditional support. The RJD's strength has gone down from 24 MPs in the last Lok Sabha to just four this time.