Even as the Punjab Government has maintained that there was no security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the State, the Punjab Police registered an FIR in Ferozepur against nearly 150 unidentified protesters who blocked the cavalcade on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the State Government had announced a two-member panel to investigate the matter and had asked it to submit its report in three days.
Punjab’s Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewari has written to the Union Home Ministry regarding the security breach, informing that an FIR has been lodged in the incident. He mentioned that the State Government has formed its own two-member panel to investigate the alleged lapses.
Sources in Punjab said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has sent show-cause notices to some police officials in the State.
The Chief Secretary is learnt to have shared details pertaining to the sequence of events that unfolded on Wednesday, sources maintained. The Union Home Ministry had directed the State Government to file an immediate report, saying it did not ensure the required deployment.
The incident triggered a major political row with the BJP alleging that the ruling Congress in Punjab ‘’tried to physically harm’’ the Prime Minister, while other parties too attacked the State Government over the law and order issue.
The Prime Minister’s convoy was stranded on a flyover for nearly 20 minutes on Wednesday due to a blockade by farmers in Ferozepur.
The political slugfest over the incident continued on Friday with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar demanding that his Punjab counterpart Charanjit Singh Channi’s Government should be dismissed and President’s Rule imposed in the State.
Both the Centre and the State have set up high-level committees into the lapse.
On Friday, BJP leaders continued to target the Channi Government over the lapse while the Congress largely played down the incident.
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu claimed that the BJP was “ranting” about the incident while trying to save itself from the “humiliation” over the thin attendance at the PM’s rally venue.
In Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav taunted, “People and farmers of Punjab should have allowed the PM to reach the dais... He would have felt good on seeing the empty chairs.”
Union minister Anurag Thakur questioned the “silence” of top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over the security lapse.
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi offered prayers at the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai for the prime minister’s well-being.
“The deliberate criminal negligence during the visit of the world’s popular and admired leader Narendra Modi has made the Congress a cowardly conspiracy clan,” he charged.