‘Grave’ security breach at PM event venue in Rajasthan as man enters restricted area; SHO suspended

According to officials, the incident took place on Monday, when the youth entered the restricted ‘D’ area and directly accessed the VVIP stage.

A station house officer (SHO) was suspended in Rajasthan’s Balotra city after a youth managed to breach the security cordon ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state.

In this screengrab from a video posted on April 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen addressing a public meeting in West Bengal. (@NarendraModi)

The PM was scheduled to visit Balotra on Tuesday for the inauguration of the HPCL refinery project. However, the visit was later cancelled following a fire incident at one of the refinery units a day earlier on Monday.

According to officials, the incident took place on Monday, when the youth entered the restricted ‘D’ area and directly accessed the VVIP stage despite tight security arrangements. He even recorded a video from the stage, which later went viral on social media.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

“Prima facie, this is a grave security breach. Ensuring that no unauthorized person reaches the VVIP stage is the responsibility of the personnel deployed on duty. Negligence at any level will invite strict action”, officials said.

“Directions have been issued to the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) Commandant to identify the personnel responsible and initiate strict disciplinary action. Such lapses in VVIP security are unacceptable”, they added.

Jodhpur Range IG Satendra Singh termed the incident a serious lapse.

“After the fire incident at the refinery, a youth named Arshad climbed onto the stage at the event site and also recorded a video there. He made the video viral on social media, which is a major security lapse. In view of this, the Pachpadra SHO has been suspended, and a letter has been written to the RAC Commandant to take action against the deployed RAC personnel,” said Satyendra Singh, IG, Jodhpur Range Police.

Preliminary investigation indicates negligence on the part of RAC personnel deployed at the venue, who failed to prevent the youth from reaching the stage.

Police detained three individuals in connection with the case and released them after questioning late at night.