With the security lapse involving Rahul Gandhi getting separated from his SPG detail, reported in these columns on August 10, eliciting a lot of heat, city police officials are claiming that the unfortunate lapse happened primarily because the Congress president reached the venue to pay homage to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi much before he was scheduled to.
The police officials also claim that they were kept in the dark about the change in schedule.
City police sources explained that as per the original schedule shared with them, Mr. Gandhi was supposed to arrive at Rajaji Hall only at 3.15 p.m. However, he arrived at 2.05 p.m. without any communication to the police.
“We were prepared with a full security detail for him. An assistant commissioner of police and 200 officers and men had been posted exclusively to take care of Mr. Gandhi’s security,” a top police official said.
“As per the official programme for his visit, he was supposed to arrive at 3.15 p.m. at Rajaji Hall. Our people would have got into position about 45 minutes in advance, by about 2.30 p.m. However, without informing us, he was brought to the venue at 2.05 p.m. itself,” the official added.
While changing arrangements for a security detail of that size would be tough even in normal times, it turned out to be a challenge for the police at Rajaji Hall, which was swarming with people, eager to catch a last glimpse of Karunanidhi before the burial. The entire area was clogged with visitors and mourners, and even the VIP area was chock-a-block with people.
The police said if they had advance information, even 15 minutes before, they would have cleared the area for the VIP visit and arranged for Mr. Gandhi’s entry and exit through the VIP route, through the corridors of the hall. “If we had some advance information about the changes in his programme, we could have ensured his safety and made sure that he was not at risk,” the official said.