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Security goof up greets PM in Kerala
PM's cavalcade led up the garden path by confused driver.
BY CORRESPONDENT
November 1, 2006
The security personnel maintaining vigil during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s Kerala visit were caught on a sticky wicket when a goof up just minutes after the PM arrived in Thiruvananthapuram.
The security mishap occurred when a pilot car which was part of the convoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took the wrong route. Singh landed in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday night and was being driven to the Raj Bhavan. The convoy came to a halt when one of the cars took diversion making all the other vehicles that followed to slam the brakes.
It was later found that the car was driven by a private taxi driver in the absence of a police driver. The driver, named Shiju, has been detained by the police.
Shiju, on interrogation, clarified that he was asked by policemen sitting inside the car to take the wrong turn. According to him the car ahead of him was at a distance and he was unable to see it. Following this the policemen inside the car asked him to drive the way he took. Shiju was later admitted to hospital due to heart ailment.
While the Prime Minister’s Office has sought an explanation from the Kerala Government with regard to the goof up, the National Security Guards (NSG) director has asked the Kerala police to furnish an explanation. Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has ordered the cops to submit a report in 48 hours time.
Kerala has already had its share of problems
when a threat email surface saying that the Prime Minister and the President would be killed when they are in the state. Now with the latest development, police and the home department are having a tough time dealing with the issue.
Meanwhile, Kerala Hme Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has warned that stringent action will be taken against officials responsible for the lapses in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's security . He admitted that the goof up was a lapse on the part of officials deputed for security and that negligent handling of the motorcade was behind the incident.
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