The Maharashtra government has decided not to refund a bill of nearly Rs. 11 crore for the deployment of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at the Arthur Road jail here as part of tight security for 26/11 gunman Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab.
The Home Department would write to the Centre to that effect, senior officials said. Medha Gadgil, Principle Secretary, Home, said the letter was yet to be dispatched.
“This is not a State-specific issue, but a national one. When Kasab was caught, it was a [breakthrough] for the entire country,” a senior official said.
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The State received a request for reimbursement of Rs. 10,87,12,041 from the office of the Director General of ITBP last year.
The amount is for the expenses incurred on the ITBP between March 28, 2009 and September 30, 2010.
The ITBP was deployed in the run-up to the 26/11 trial at the special sessions court inside the high-security prison. After the trial concluded, the State decided to extend the deployment of the agency.
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Earlier, State Home Minister R.R. Patil said the Centre asking for a refund for the deployment of a Central force was as per procedure. “If the Maharashtra government sends its forces elsewhere, we too send our bills accordingly.”
However, the bill is seen to be too steep an amount.