Noida: Two Noida policemen who were in charge of piloting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cavalcade during his Christmas visit to the city were suspended for negligence on Wednesday for straying from the planned route, leading to a major security lapse.
Media reports said that sub-inspector Dilip Singh and constable Jaipal, who were in an anti-demolition vehicle that was leading the cavalcade, took a wrong turn and led the PM and his security detail into the stream of traffic on the Noida expressway.
The cavalcade slowed down there and remained on the expressway for 200 metres before it turned back into its original route, senior officials said. An IPS officer and two DSPs were also attached to the movement of PM’s convoy. A probe into their role has been initiated as well.
The security lapse happened between 2.35pm and 3pm on December 25 afternoon when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was en route to the Botanical Garden helipad from the Amity University campus, where he delivered an address to mark the launch of metro’s Magenta line between Noida and south Delhi. As a result, the PM reached the helipad 10 minutes after he was supposed to.
As is protocol, a multilayered security cordon was set up for the PM and 5,000 police personnel were deployed along his route. After his speech, the PM left Amity University at 2.35pm. To reach the helipad, 6km away, the cavalcade was supposed to take the service lane of the expressway. But Singh and Jaipal drove on to the main expressway instead of taking the earlier left turn.
