The Prime Minister of the country gets the highest level of security and is an SPG protectee. Any security breach against the Prime Minister is a grave concern that is often addressed by the local police and the highest echelons of the security establishment. In the past 6 months, there have been at least 6 security scares as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conducting road shows, delivering speeches etc.
On Sunday (April 30), a mobile phone was hurled at PM Modi during a roadshow in poll-bound Mysuru city of Karnataka. In a video that has now come to light, the cell phone could be seen missing the Prime Minister by only a few inches.
According to the police, the accused was identified as a BJP worker, who supposedly chucked the phone at PM Modi out of ‘excitement’ and had no ill will. The said incident had the potential to injure the Indian Prime Minister.
The security breach was seen near Mysuru's KR Circle during PM Narendra Modi's roadshow.
— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2023
On April 24 this year, a ‘foreign object’ was hurled at PM Modi during his roadshow in Kochi city of Kerala. During the event, people gathered on both sides of the road to catch his glimpse.
While everyone greeted him with flowers, a man threw his mobile phone at PM Modi. In a video that went viral on social media, a Special Protection Group (SPG) commando was seen quickly responding to the situation and intercepting the device before it could reach the Prime Minister.
Reportedly, the mobile phone had ‘slipped’ out of the hands of the accused while showering flower petals at PM Modi. The phone was later returned to the accused.
A few days prior to his Kerala roadshow, a handwritten letter vowing to harm the Indian Prime Minister in a suicide attack was sent to the BJP’s State Committee office in Thiruvananthapuram.
At the same time, the purported security details of PM Modi’s Kochi trip were leaked on social media. It included granular details of the Prime Minister’s itinerary and names of individual officers responsible for his protection.
An internal investigation was launched by the Kerala Special Branch police to probe the mishandling of the security scheme of PM Modi.
On March 25 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi experienced another security scare during a political rally in Davanagere city of Karnataka.
In a video that went viral on social media, a man was seen running towards the convoy of the Prime Minister. Fortunately, he was overpowered by the police and SPG officials, who were part of the security arrangement of PM Modi.
The accused was later taken into custody. While speaking about the matter, Davanagere Superintendent of Police CB Ryshyanth informed, “There was a huge crowd to witness PM Modi’s rally, and people were waiting at the places identified by the police behind the barricades.”
“But all of a sudden, a youth crossed the wooden barricade and he started to run towards the PM’s convoy, but we caught him immediately. The youth was about 20 meters away from the PM’s convoy and we are investigating this case”, he emphasised.
A man tried to breach security barricade of @PMOIndia during his road show event in #Davangere. This is the second such event after #Hubballi. He was caught mid way by cops. More investigations underway. #Karnataka #KarnatakaElection2023 pic.twitter.com/nTbMHfAMUx
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) March 25, 2023
On January 12, 2023, a young boy breached the security cover of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while trying to garland him during a roadshow in the Hubballi city of Karnataka.
During the incident, the youth escaped from the enclosure on the side of the road and rushed towards the convoy of PM Modi. He had a garland of flowers in his hand.
The police and traffic personnel successfully pulled the boy away and took him away. Nonetheless, PM Modi was graceful to retain the garland and keep it in his car.
Interestingly, the Hubbali-Dharwad police claimed that there was no ‘breach’ in the Prime Minister’s security cover. “A person tried to give a garland to PM Modi at his roadshow. We are gathering more information about the person,” DCP Gopal Byakod told ANI.
Security breach during PM Modi’s roadshow in Hubballi. pic.twitter.com/ool82qC9xj
— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) January 12, 2023
On November 24 last year, three photographers violated the ‘No Drone Fly Zone’ during PM Modi’s visit to Bavla town in the Ahmedabad district of Gujarat.
As per reports, the accused were identified as Rakesh Kalubhai Bharvad, Nikul Rameshbhai Parmar, and Rajeshkumar Mangilal Prajapati. In their defence, the trio claimed they did not know that flying drones over the rally of PM Modi was prohibited.
The Additional District Magistrate had notified, a day earlier, that flying drones in the radius of 2 km from the Prime Minister’s rally was not allowed. The drone was taken down and probed by the Bomb detection and Disposal squad (BDDS).
The officials did not find any explosives or unauthorised objects on the drone, except for a camera. The accused men had no criminal records and were not associated with any political party. Nonetheless, they were arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Section 188.
Security breach during PM Modi's rally in #Bavla ; drone shot down by security agency; 3 persons held are residents of Odhav in #Ahmedabad#NarendraModi #Gujarat #TV9News pic.twitter.com/RgsHH5OFVB
— Tv9 Gujarati (@tv9gujarati) November 24, 2022
And these incidents happen to be the security scares that occurred in the past 6 months. Earlier in July 2022, Congress workers breached PM Modi’s security cover by releasing black balloons near his chopper in Andhra Pradesh.
In January last year, the Punjab government endangered the life of the Prime Minister by letting political protestors block his convoy for over 20 minutes at a flyover about 30 km away from Hussainiwala.
Calling this a major lapse in the security of the PM, the Union Home Ministry stated that the PM’s travel plan was communicated well in advance to the state government. The statement also mentioned that the Punjab government also neglected to deploy additional security to secure any movement on the road.
