Serious threat to PM: Mantris can't come close
SPG has advised Mr Modi to cut down on road shows which invite a bigger threat.
New Delhi: The threat to the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at an “all-time high”, the Union home ministry has said while issuing an advisory that even ministers and officials cannot come too close to him unless frisked and cleared by the Special Protection Group (SPG) — a specialised Central force that protects the PM and former PMs along with their family members.
The SPG has put in place a new security protocol wherein even top government functionaries, including ministers and senior officials, would be granted access to the Prime Minister only after going through a stringent check.
As Mr Modi is the star campaigner for the BJP and is expected to travel extensively during the coming Assembly polls to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the home ministry has directed all state police chiefs to put in place a foolproof security ring during his events.
Sources said that there would be a three-layer security cordon around the Prime Minister in which the SPG’s ring round team (RRT) will provide close proximity security while the paramilitary forces will form the second round of security layer and state police will provide the third and outer cordon.
State police will continue to provide road deployment teams to sanitise areas ahead of visits by Mr Modi.
Security agencies have advised Mr Modi to avoid road shows as they are a big threat considering that he is exposed to a large crowd in an open area which is not fully sanitised.
Public rallies have been suggested as a safer alternative to road shows as crowds can be managed better at such events, they said.
Home minister Rajnath Singh along with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other senior intelligence and security officials had recently reviewed the Prime Minister’s security after the Pune Police told a court on June 7 that they had seized a “letter” from the Delhi residence of a “Maoist sympathiser” that allegedly mentioned a plan to “assassinate” Mr Modi in “another Rajiv Gandhi-type incident”. Five people were arrested.
In May, a man had managed to break through security cordon of the Prime Minister during his visit to Santiniketan in West Bengal, raising concern among the security establishment. Despite six layers of security, the man had managed to touch Modi’s feet.