An election officer in Odisha was yesterday suspended by the Election Commission for violating protocol by allegedly trying to inspect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chopper in Sambalpur.
Taking action against Mohammed Mohsin, a 1996-batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer, the poll panel said the officer didn't follow the protocol for checking Special Protection Group (SPG) protectees. According to EC guidelines SPG protectees are exempted from such checking.
“The commission has considered the material available before it and, prima facie, has found dereliction of duty. It found Mohsin’s action was contrary to its instruction concerning SPG protectees,” the poll panel said in its order.
According to reports, the prime minister's arrival was delayed for around 15 minutes because of the sudden checking. When Modi reached Sambalpur to address a rally, a team of poll officials, including Mohsin, allegedly inspected his chopper.
“A team of poll officials led by Mohsin inspected some papers in the chopper carrying PM Modi. The inspection delayed the PM’s arrival at the meeting place by around 20 minutes. This was reported to the Election Commission,” a senior police officer, who was at the Sambalpur airstrip, told ToI.
EC had asked for a report from the district collector and the deputy inspector general of police after the incident.
As per a PTI report, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's helicopter was also checked by EC flying squad personnel in Rourkela.
A similar check was also carried out on Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's chopper at Sambalpur.
(Inputs from PTI)