PM's 'security breach': Centre seeks report from state
New Delhi/Chandigarh: Alleging security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab on Wednesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the state government asking how the PM's cavalcade was stranded on a flyover for over 15 minutes due to a protest when his programme had been duly communicated to the state police.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a detailed report on today's security breach in Punjab. Such dereliction of security procedure in the Prime Minister's visit is totally unacceptable and accountability will be fixed," Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted.
"The PM's schedule and travel plan was communicated well in advance to Punjab Government. As per procedure, they have to make necessary arrangements for logistics, security as well as keep a contingency plan ready. Also in view of the contingency plan Punjab Government has to deploy additional security to secure any movement by road, which were clearly not deployed," the MHA said in a statement.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs taking cognisance of this serious security lapse has sought a detailed report from the state government. State Government has also been asked to fix responsibility for this lapse and take strict action," it added.
According to a ministry statement, the Prime Minister landed on Wednesday morning at Bathinda from where he was to go to the national martyrs' memorial at Hussainiwala by helicopter and due to rain and poor visibility, he waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear out.
"When the weather did not improve, it was decided that he would visit the national marytrs' memorial via road, which would take more than two hours. He proceeded to travel by road after necessary confirmation of security arrangements by the DGP Punjab Police," the statement said.
Around 30 km away from the memorial, when Modi's convoy reached a flyover, it was found that the road was blocked by some protestors.
"The Prime Minister was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes. This was a major lapse in the security of the Prime Minister," the statement said.
After the serious lapse in security, his convoy decided to return without attending an event at a martyrs' memorial, a Home ministry statement said. The Prime Minister also could not attend a rally in Ferozepur. Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress government in Punjab, asking why did the Director General of Police (DGP) give all-clear for Modi's route.
Irani asked: "Who in the Punjab government gave information about the PM's route to individuals who planted themselves atop the flyover."
She questioned: "Why was the PM's security detail given a false clearance? Why didn't they receive any response from the establishment when security was breached."
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, however, denied a security lapse and said the PM's plan to travel by road was made at the last minute.
He said the Prime Minister's Office had been informed beforehand of the protest on the route. He suggested Modi could have used a helicopter instead.
"The Prime Minister was not attacked… Please do not spoil relations… Farmers have been agitating for over a year… I am not going to order a lathicharge or firing on my people… If there were any security lapses, we will inquire," the Chief Minister told a press conference later in the day.
"When farmers sat (on a protest) in Delhi for a year, was there a threat to the PM or the CM or anyone? We had cleared the roads last night. But they came back again," he replied to a question.
In a separate tweet, Shah blamed Congress for the incident. "Today's Congress-made happening in Punjab is a trailer of how this party thinks and functions. Repeated rejections by the people have taken them to the path of insanity. The topmost echelons of the Congress owe an apology to the people of India for what they have done," he said. Other BJP leaders too attacked the state government.
