PM Modi’s chopper is all-weather, chose not to fly: Punjab govt on security breach

Punjab government sources told India Today that the prime minister’s helicopter was an all-weather aircraft, but it was decided not to use it.

PM Modi was scheduled to fly to Ferozepur from Bathinda to attend a public session (PTI photo)

In order to deny allegations of security breaches during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the state, Punjab government sources told India Today that the prime minister’s helicopter is an all-weather aircraft but it was decided not to use it.

“PM’s helicopter is an all-weather chopper. And it chose not to fly. It’s not even hilly terrain, ”the sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to fly from Bathinda to Ferozepur to attend a public meeting that would have essentially launched the BJP’s election campaign in high-polluting Punjab.

However, due to the inclement weather, it was decided that PM Modi would travel by road to the public meeting venue instead of by helicopter.

But in a major security breach, the Prime Minister’s cavalcade was stranded on an overpass en route to Ferozepur for almost 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters. Because of this, he returned from Punjab without attending any events.

READ | Security breach by PM Modi: Not only the Punjab police but also SPG-IB responsible, says the former home manager

The incident sparked a major political argument, with the BJP claiming that the ruling Congress in Punjab “tried to physically injure the prime minister” while other parties also attacked the state government over law and order.

Punjab Prime Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had denied there had been a security breach, claiming Prime Minister Modi canceled his trip because of the “thin” crowd at the Ferozepur rally venue and that there was a “conspiracy” to defame the rally State given.

READ | “Security breach” trick to divert attention from empty chairs at PM Modi’s rally, Sidhu says

On Friday, by order of the Interior Ministry, the Punjab government submitted a report to the center stating that an FIR had been filed on the matter and that a two-person body had been set up. The Home Office has also set up a committee to investigate “serious failures” in security arrangements that put PM Modi and other VVIPs at “serious risk”.

CLOCK | At the moment when the convoy of PM Modi was on an overpass in Ferozepur. stuck in Punjab

Click here for IndiaToday.in’s full coverage of the corona pandemic.