At Rajaji Hall, where the body of DMK president M. Karunanidhi was kept for public homage on Wednesday, the security protocol was breached many a time as leaders who are protected by different scales of security found themselves stuck in the middle of hundreds of emotionally charged party workers.
Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel guarding Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were in for a rude shock after they realised there was only one narrow passage leading to the dais where the body of the DMK leader was placed.
VVIPs including Mr. Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and others had a tough time wading through the mourners. The staircase was so crowded that the SPG personnel had to walk precariously on the handrail.
With police resorting to a lathi charge every now and then to facilitate the movement of VIPs, enraged party cadre raised slogans and threw footwear and water bottles at them.
“The barricades were not breach-proof. VVIPs, women, children and senior citizens were all left to their own devices to move ahead and keep pace with a huge crowd of party cadres on a congested path leading to the dais from the rear of Rajaji Salai. It was a free-for-all situation,” said a senior citizen who came to pay homage to Mr. Karunanidhi.