Ministry of Home Affairs summons top Punjab police officials in PM Modi’s 'security breach' incident

A three-member team constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to probe the lapse in the security arrangements that led to the exposure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to serious security risk, on Friday visited the spot and took a stock of the site.

Accompanied by senior Punjab police officials, the team led by Sudhir Kumar Saxena, Secretary (Security), Balbir Singh, Joint Director of Intelligence Bureau, and S Suresh, Inspector-General of SPG visited the flyover, on the Bathinda-Ferozepur highway in Piareana village, where Prime Minister’s convoy was stuck for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sources revealed that the team has questioned Punjab Police officials in this connection. After inspecting the spot, the team visited BSF headquarter in Ferozepur and submitted its report to the MHA.

Sources revealed that on the report of the team, the MHA team has summoned 13 top Punjab police officials of DGP, IG and SSP rank officials. Heads of five police districts comprising Moga, Tarn Taran, Muktsar, Faridkot and Fazilka have also been summoned by the MHA for alleged negligence and serious lapses in the PM's security.

The officers have been asked to report to the BSF headquarter, Ferozepur.

The three member MHA team has summoned several senior police and civil officials, including Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyay, ADGP Nageshwar Rao besides 13 other officials, deployed for PM Narendra Modi’s security during his Ferozepur visit, to appear in person before them on Friday.

Other officials who have been summoned include ADGP Jitendra Jain, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patiala, Mukhwinder Singh Chinna, DIG Ferozepur Inderbir Singh, Faridkot DIG Surjeet Singh, Ferozepur DC Davinder Singh, Ferozepur SSP Harmandeep Hans, Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sohal, Kotkapura Duty Magistrate Varinder Singh, Ludhiana Joint Commissioner Ankur Mahendru, Bathinda DC APS Sandhu, Bathinda SSP Ajay Maluja and the Ferozepur VVIP control room in-charge.

Moreover, the Police have also registered an FIR against over 150 unidentified persons in this context in Ferozepur district.

The committee has been advised to submit its report at the earliest.

The incident of a grave lapse in the security cover of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Punjab visit has been widely criticised by all political parties including Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and even Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Taking note of the episode Sonia Gandhi even talked to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and asked him to initiate action against the officials responsible for it.

The Punjab government has already constituted a high-level committee headed by Justice Mehtab Singh Gill to probe alleged lapses during PM Narendra Modi’s Punjab visit.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has claimed that the protesting farmers at Piareana village had no clue that PM Narendra Modi’s convoy was scheduled to take that route. They claimed to have learnt about the PM's route only later from the media, after the PM had returned. The SKM, in a statement, had said it was clear from a video of the scene that the farmers did not make any effort to go towards the PM’s convoy.

“Only a group with a BJP flag and raising ‘Narendra Modi zindabad’ slogan had reached near that convoy. Therefore, the threat to the life of the PM seems concocted,” it said.