A team of top security officials and Special Protection Group (SPG) top brass will be visiting West Bengal to assess the circumstances leading to the collapse of a tent during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Midnapore on Monday that left over 90 people injured. The team led by SK Sinha, Secretary, Security, will assess the situation including lapses, if any, in the organisation of the rally.
The team, comprising top officials of the SPG, will assess whether there was any lapse in the security measures, lack of coordination among different agencies and other shortcomings in organising the rally, a senior Home Ministry official said. The development comes a day after the Union Home Ministry sought a report from the West Bengal Government on the incident that occurred on Monday.
The makeshift tent, erected next to the main entrance of the rally venue to shelter people from rain, collapsed when Modi was midway through his speech. Normally as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), the State Police, SPG and Central agencies, including the State PWD, makes preparations on the infrastructures related to Prime Minister’s functions and let the venue and route for final checks and audit for the Central agencies.
There need a clearance of SPG on each and every process. According to officials, the team will also look into the capacity of the tent as well as the last minute rush, if any on the entry of public.
The Prime Minister later visited the hospital where the injured, including 50 women, were undergoing treatment.