Following the recent security lapse incident of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Rajesh Thakur on Thursday said that safety and security are always the responsibility of the Special Protection Group (SPG), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Home Ministry.
The state Congress chief sought the dismissal of Union Minister Amit Shah and chief of Intelligence Bureau Arvind Kumar in the country.
"Prime Minister should have met the President seeking the dismissal of Home Minister Amit Shah. Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief should be dismissed in the first place," Thakur said.
"The Centre should tell who changed the route plan. Who all were involved in this change? Did the Prime Minister himself want to travel by road? He is insulting the Sikh community in Punjab by saying that there was a threat to his life. Safety and security is always the responsibility of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Home Ministry," Thakur said.
The Congress leader questioned authorities for 'finalizing a route' that was not appropriate from the security point of view.
"Whenever a route for the Prime Minister is finalised, it is not left only to the state to ensure security. They (SPG and IB) have their own Intelligence and information system which works on this. Then how come they did not find that 'finalized route' not appropriate from the security point of view?" he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed event at Ferozepur in Punjab had to be cancelled owing to a 'security lapse', the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on January 5.
The ministry has sought a detailed report from the State government, fix responsibility for the lapse and take strict action.
PM Modi was scheduled to visit Ferozepur on Wednesday to lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 42,750 crore. The Home Ministry said in a statement that PM Modi landed at Bathinda on Wednesday morning from where he was to go to the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala by helicopter.
Due to rain and poor visibility, the Prime Minister waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear out.The statement said that 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. The Prime Minister proceeded to travel by road after necessary confirmation of necessary security arrangements by the DGP Punjab Police.
Around 30 kilometres away from the National Martyrs Memorial in Hussainiwala, when the Prime Minister'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 Prime Minister's schedule and travel plan was communicated well in advance to the Punjab Government. As per procedure, they have to make necessary arrangements for logistics, security as well as keep a contingency plan ready," the statement said.
"Also in view of the contingency plan the Punjab Government has to deploy additional security to secure any movement by road, which were clearly not deployed. After this security lapse, it was decided to head back to Bathinda Airport," it added.
Government sources said what was witnessed on the flyover was "a surprising scene of connivance between Punjab police and so-called protestors". They said only Punjab police knew the precise route of the PM and "never has such police behaviour been witnessed".
( With inputs from ANI )
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