The Punjab government on Thursday constituted a two-member committee to carry out a “thorough probe” into the lapses that occurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ferozepur.
The committee comprising retired high court judge, justice Mehtab Singh Gill, and principal secretary, home affairs and justice, Anurag Verma, has been asked to submit its report within three days, an official spokesperson said. “In order to carry out a thorough probe into lapses that occurred during the Prime Minister’s visit to Ferozepur yesterday, the Punjab government has constituted a high level committee,” said an official statement from the state government.
The Union home ministry had taken serious of the “major security lapse” and sought a report from the state government, telling it to fix responsibility and take strict action. On being asking if the state administration was contemplating action against any officials for the security lapses, a senior officer said the government will wait for the findings of the probe panel.
In an unprecedented breach, the Prime Minister convoy was on Wednesday 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 was quoted by ANI as having told state government officials at Bathinda airport, “Apne CM ko thanks kehna, ki me Bathinda airport tak zinda laut paya. (Say thanks to your CM that I came back alive till Bathinda airport).”
Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi denied the allegations of any security breach of the Prime Minister saying that he did it have information about the last-minute change of route of the PM. “We 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,” he contended.
{{/usCountry}}Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi denied the allegations of any security breach of the Prime Minister saying that he did it have information about the last-minute change of route of the PM. “We 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,” he contended.
{{/usCountry}}The stand, however, has been strongly disputed by the Union government and the Bharatiya Janata Party.