MUMBAI (TIP): Lt Gen (retd) K S Brar, who escaped a murder bid in London on October 1, said on Thursday that he won’t leave his Mumbai home. Union home ministry officials have suggested that he be moved to another city since his present location is known to Khalistani terrorists.

“I’ve been staying here for the past 28 years. My family, friends and golf ground are all here. Why, then, is the central government asking me to live the last few years of my life in a prison? The suggestion is totally unacceptable,” Brar said.

“I live in the most secure environment provided by the Army. It’s because of this protection that no one has been able to attack me here,” said Brar. The general was visiting his daughter in Britain and walking back to his hotel in Central London with his wife around 10.40 pm, when four men attacked him. Brar fought back but was struck in the neck and face. The attackers who fled after Meena raised an alarm.

Astonishingly, the Centre had sought to downgrade Brar’s high-security after the IB concluded there was no threat to his life. The decision was revoked. Intelligence officials told TOI that the decision to provide security is based on threat perception that his revised every year. “There were periodic warnings about threats to Brar,” said a senior officer. “That’s why he received protection. Most of the threats he got was in shape of hate mails.”

Brar said the threats haven’t stopped in the past 28 years. “The internet is full of these guys saying I should be killed, all of which I have passed on to local military authorities. I am now reading news reports that the IB had information of plans by some Khalistani sympathizers in Germany to attack me on June 6, the day they celebrate as Ghalu Ghara or martyrdom day. What security measures did the Centre take?” asked Brar.

Criticizing the building of a monument inside the Golden Temple in the name of those who died in Operation Bluestar, Brar said, “Are they martyrs? I call them murderers, criminals, terrorists. The top politicians of the Akali Dal, the chief minister, are attending these functions. The Centre must step in and stop this. Otherwise, we are going back to the early 1980s.”

“On the other hand, no monuments were being built for soldiers and Army personnel going beyond their call of duty to protect national integrity and sovereignty,” he said.