The Punjab police has suspended 7 officials including one Superintendent of Police (SP) and two Deputy Superintendent of Police DSP for the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab on January 5, 2022.
7 Officials Including 1 SP, 2 DSP Suspended
On February 5, 2022, the PM was going to attend a rally in Ferozepur when farmers blocked the way. The Prime Minister’s convoy was stopped for around 20 minutes. So far in this case, the then SP Ferozepur Gurvinder Singh Sanga, DSP Parson Singh, DSP Jagdish Kumar, Inspector Tejinder Singh, Balwinder Singh, Jaswant Singh and ASI Rakesh Kumar have been suspended.
Supreme Court Committee
A Supreme Court-appointed committee that probed the security breach had held several state officers responsible for the security breach.
AAP Government
The current Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government has now suspended seven police officers for the lapse. Gurbinder Singh, then Ferozepur police chief and now Bathinda SP, had earlier been suspended. The order states that all seven policemen will face action under Rule 8 of Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970. The penalties under these rules can range from withholding of promotion to dismissal from service.
Which agency is in charge of the Prime Minister’s security?
The Prime Minister’s safety and security is the responsibility of the Special Protection Group (SPG). The SPG protects the Prime Minister and his immediate family members who live with them at their official house at all times, whether in India and overseas. The SPG is also responsible for the ASL, or Advanced Security Liaison. This means that personnel from the central agencies are recording and monitoring every minute of the Prime Minister’s schedule. The local police maintain this minute-by-minute programme during the PM’s visit to a state, but it is overseen by SPG officials.
What is SPG?
An Act of the Indian Parliament established the agency in 1988. The law was revised in 2019, and SPG protection is now solely guaranteed to the Prime Minister of India. The SPG is based in Dwarka, southwest Delhi, and draws personnel from the Central Armed Police Forces (such as the BSF, CRPF, CISF, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police) as well as the Railway Protection Force Service. They’re all volunteers – the best of the best who passed a three-tiered screening process.
Blue Book
According to the Blue Book, the SPG must convene an Advance Security Liaison three days before each visit by the prime minister, with everyone engaged in protecting the event, including Intelligence Bureau authorities in the concerned state, state police officers, and the pertinent district magistrate.
