Security breach: SC-appointed panel reaches Punjab's Ferozepur, visits flyover where PM Modi was stuck

PM Narendra Modi's convoy near Hussainiwala in Ferozepur on January 5 (ANI Photos)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed committee arrived in Ferozepur on Sunday (February 6, 2022) to probe the alleged security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab last month.

The panel headed by former apex court judge Indu Malhotra visited the road overbridge near Piareana village on the Ferozepur-Moga road, where the prime minister's convoy was stuck up for almost 20 minutes on January 5. The team reportedly stayed there for around half an hour to inspect the site.

The five-member committee also visited the rally site and Ferozeshah village to take stock of the sequence of events that took place on that day.

It is noteworthy that PM Modi's convoy was stranded on a flyover allegedly due to a blockade by farmers in Ferozepur after which he returned from Punjab without attending any event, including a rally. The Union Home Ministry had described the incident as a "major lapse" in PM's security.

The prime minister was on his way to the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala from Bathinda when the incident occurred.

A central team had then visited Ferozepur on January 7. Subsequently, the top court had set up a committee on January 12 to investigate the security lapse.

The apex court, while setting up an independent committee, had said that the panel will inquire into the causes of the security breach, persons responsible for it and the measures to be taken in future for preventing such security breaches of VVIPs.

The SC-appointed panel also includes the Inspector General of the National Investigation Agency, Director General of Police, Chandigarh, the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Additional DGP (Security) of Punjab Police.

(With agency inputs)