The BJP Thursday accused the previous Congress government in Punjab of playing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security, claiming that there was a “conspiracy” behind his convoy getting stranded due to protests on January 5. The allegations came on a day the Supreme Court read out a committee’s report fixing the blame for the security breach.
At a press conference, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the then Director General of Police were “missing” during PM Modi’s visit.
On January 5, the PM’s convoy was stuck on a flyover in Firozpur due to a blockade by protesters for 15-20 minutes. After this Modi returned from Punjab without attending any program.
“Prime Minister Modi’s convoy was stopped in the middle of a bridge just 100 meters from the protesters… Punjab Police remained a mute spectator and the then Chief Minister Channi was taking instructions from his party bosses in Delhi,” Thakur said.
“Anything could have happened to the prime minister. Just two minutes was enough. PM had to wait for 20 minutes on the bridge…’
The top court had on January 12 appointed a committee to probe the violations, observing that these questions cannot be left to a “unilateral probe” as they require a “judicially trained independent mind” to probe.
The committee in its report said that the then Senior Superintendent of Police of Ferozepur failed to discharge his duty despite the availability of adequate forces.
