The Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Sylendra Babu rejected the claims that there were security lapses when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state in July to inaugurate the Chess Olympiad. These allegations were put forth by K Annamalai, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, November 29. Annamalai had also submitted a memorandum to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi and directed appropriate action to be taken against the state government.
Speaking to the media after inaugurating the cybercrime awareness programme in University of Madras, Sylendra Babu said that the police department had not received any communication from central agencies about a security lapse. “The Tamil Nadu police conducted an internal audit of all the equipment and its a routine procedure. The department has the best equipment in the country,” the DGP told The Times of India. Sylendra Babu added that Tamil Nadu has provided other states, including Kerala, with security equipment whenever they requested it.
Based on Annamalai’s memorandum, RN Ravi, on Thursday, asked for a detailed report on the alleged security lapse from the Chief Secretary, V Irai Anbu. In his memorandum, Annamalai had mentioned that most of the handheld detectors, door frame metal detectors and bomb detectors that were used used in the security arrangement, were not in order and were due for replacement.
The memorandum mentioned that central investigation agencies pointed out lapses after the Prime Minister’s visit and the state police department sent a circular to all the police stations asking for a status report on the security devices. It added that this report should have been sought before the Prime Minister visited the state.
“By compromising on the security devices, the state government has not just goofed up in ensuring a vital area is sanitised before a VVIP's visit but has also missed providing the security personnel on the field with functional security devices, thus putting at risk our Prime Minister,” the memorandum said.
Meanwhile, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) lashed out at Annamalai for accusing the state government of a lapse in security during the Prime Minister's visit and said on Wednesday, November 30, that the union government's Special Protection Group (SPG) handles the security cover for Modi.
Though the state government provides the basic arrangements, once the SPG arrives days ahead of the Prime Minister's visit, the state police have little role to play, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said.
"The SPG takes full control of the security arrangements and the state police have no role thereafter. In such a case, even the chief minister can't enter. This is a known fact," he said.
"I wonder if there are any issues between Annamalai and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Is he casting aspersions on Shah? He has been a police official and he ought to know the basics of security," Elangovan told reporters in Chennai when his attention was drawn to Annamalai's accusation.