Lapse in Prime Minister’s security in Punjab... Plot thickens...

 Lapse in Prime Minister’s security in Punjab

Plot thickens...

 

Controversy regarding the lapse in Prime-Ministerial security in Punjab refuses to die down. Fortunately now the Supreme Court has constituted a high level committee chaired by a retired Supreme Court Judge to look into the entire episode. Terms of reference prescribed for this high level committee are yet to be made available in the public domain. The committee, led by the retired Judge, includes the Chandigarh police chief, senior official of National Investigation Agency, an Additional Director General of Punjab Police, besides of course Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court, whose office, presumably already has all relevant documents, as directed by Supreme Court of India, concerning the Prime-Ministerial visit. These documents were to include all communications between various security agencies, ministries and Punjab Police, all orders regarding "bandobast" issued by Punjab police as also local contingents manning duties at various points en-route.

 

Obviously there was a serious security lapse on part of Punjab police. No one can deny it. In all probability there also was a serious lapse in coordination between various security apparatuses and their counterparts in intelligence agencies, both central and the state. One can be sure that it shall be one of the points of reference for the said committee. One can hope and wish that the conduct of the Special Protection Group, the SPG, shall also be examined because it is the most important single agency entrusted with the task of securing the Prime Minister, the most important single institution in the entire country. As an ex-intelligence man, I feel that of late there have been several lapses on part of the SPG. I am not aware if any internal enquiry was conducted into any of them, though security guidelines provide that each lapse should be looked into specifically. Videos are floating around, including the ones of Varanasi where the Prime-Ministerial cavalcade was disrupted at points, door of the vehicle in which the Prime Minister was traveling, was opened and shut a number of times to permit the crowd to facilitate the Prime Minister. They showered rose petals and flowers on the Prime Minister and even offered headgears and garlands. It is hard to believe that these numerous individuals and their garlands etc were ever sanitized. It was a grave security risk and violation of security guidelines. Already we have lost one Ex Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, to such a "garlanding tamasha". As per standard operative procedures, such acts are not permitted and SPG should not have permitted it.

 

Now coming to the episode in question; the time when the Prime Minister got stuck up on the flyover on his way from Bhatinda to Ferozepur, as per the security SOPs, SPG, on finding the road blockade, should have taken two steps. Firstly it should have "boxed" the Prime-Ministerial vehicle. "Boxed" means that SPG should have placed its cars all around the Prime-Ministerial vehicle in such a way that he had a security “wall” made up of security cars, part of the carcade, mostly bulletproofed, all around his own, a kind of fortification by way of expert placement of cars all around. Instead of doing this, SPG placed the Prime-Ministerial car towards the exposed edge of the carriage way. It made the Prime Minister totally vulnerable. He was nothing but a "sitting duck". To make matters worse, these "highly trained and motivated" SPG personnel were seen getting in and out of the Prime ministerial car. Anyone could have taken a pot shot. Here I would like to draw a parallel with the security of the President of the USA. In such a contingency the doors of his bullet proofed "Beast" would have been "sealed" by the driver, who also hails from within his security wing. In this given background, one needs to look at the foolish act of SPG officials who can be seen, in circulating videos, opening, going out and again stepping back into the Prime Minister's car. Next, after "boxing" the Prime-Ministerial car, to the extent possible, they should have sped the carcade away to the nearest "safe-house". To add to the gravity of the situation, Punjab police permitted private individuals, carrying flags mounted on long sticks, so very near the Prime Minister’s car. And here too, brandishing their deadly weapons, SPG personnel kept behaving like gullible, lost and untrained men on the street, tasked for such a duty for the very first time. 

 

Having talked about grave security lapses on part both of Punjab police, SPG personnel and others, one needs to move on to the "protocol" chapter, which is equally important. The protocol needed Chief Minister Channi, DGP and Chief Secretary to accompany the Prime Minister. It was not an election rally per-se. Code of conduct was not imposed as of then. Narendra Modi was visiting as the institution of the Prime Minister of India. Prescribed protocol should have been strictly observed. Now some sources close to the state government have started giving their untenable explanations, claiming that Bathinda was not meant to be the final destination for Prime-Ministerial visit, but only for a changeover from the aero plane to a helicopter for onward trip to Ferozepur. That no seats were reserved for CM and top officers in any VIP of the choppers and as such they could not be expected at Bathinda airport but only at the final destination, Ferozepur. That they could not use the state plane or chopper from handigarh to Bathinda airport because of the laid down security "Standard Operative Procedures", the security dril;, that some other other senior officers of Punjab could have been in the convoy. My take on this issue is that all details about the Prime Minister's security are chalked out well in advance and nothing is left to chance. The list of occupants of the Prime-Ministerial fleet of  chopper as also the list of officials and "others" in accompanying choppers is also finalized well in advance. This is because of this reason that Chief Minister Channi recused himself well in time on the ground that he had been in touch with certain Corona positive individuals. Now if the names of Chief Secretary and DGP were not included in the list of occupants in any of the choppers accompanying the Prime Minister, and that they were expected to reach directly on the ground of the designated functions, then what were their cars doing in the Prime-Ministerial motorcade? Protocol clearly lays down the reception of the Prime Minister by them, at the very first point of landing otherwise specifically provided for by the PMO itself. The next question that comes up is that if these high officials were indeed supposed to be at the venue of the Prime Ministerial function, then were they really there? Anyhow all this shall remain a point only for arguments and counter arguments because any of the concerned documents are still not in public domain. Only the enquiry committee shall be able to give an answer.

 

The only point about which we can be sure of as of now is that all state governments, state police forces, SPG and sundry intelligence agencies need to take this serious lapse seriously and ensure that no such incident happens again anywhere. They all need to study this lapse seriously and tighten their belts...