In order to carry out a thorough probe into the lapses that occurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ferozepur on Wednesday, the Punjab government has constituted a high-level committee.
Also read: PM security breach: Punjab Police ignored intelligence, ‘Blue Book’ rules
An official spokesperson said that the committee would comprise Justice Mehtab Singh Gill (retd) and principal secretary, home affairs and justice, Anurag Verma.
The committee shall submit its report within three days, the spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi’s convoy was stuck on a flyover near Ferozepur for 15-20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters. The PM, who was travelling by road from Bathinda airport due to the inclement weather, had to call off his plans to address the BJP rally in Ferozepur. Returning to Delhi, Modi said to state government official at Bathinda airport, “Apne CM ko thanks kehna, ki me Bathinda airport tak zinda laut paya.”
Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi denied the allegations of any security breach of the Prime Minister saying that he did it have any information about the change of route of the PM. “We had asked them (PMO) to discontinue the visit due to bad weather conditions and protests. We had no information of his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) sudden route change. There was no security lapse during the PM visit,” Channi said on Wednesday evening at a press conference.
{{/usCountry}}Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi denied the allegations of any security breach of the Prime Minister saying that he did it have any information about the change of route of the PM. “We had asked them (PMO) to discontinue the visit due to bad weather conditions and protests. We had no information of his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) sudden route change. There was no security lapse during the PM visit,” Channi said on Wednesday evening at a press conference.
{{/usCountry}}The incident triggered a political blame game with the BJP accusing the ruling Congress government in Punjab of sabotaging the PM’s scheduled programme and for the major security lapse.
Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who is a poll ally of the BJP, sought Channi’s resignation, saying that the Punjab government cannot provide smooth passage to the Prime Minister of the country and that too just 10km from the Pakistan border.