Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security -- the highest in the country -- was breached today during his roadshow in Karnataka's Hubbali by a boy who jumped onto the road suddenly and managed to get within an arm's length of him. He was intercepted at the last minute and whisked away by the Special Protection Group or SPG of the Prime Minister.
The boy was carrying a garland and apparently trying to felicitate the Prime Minister, who was riding on the running board of an SUV and waving to cheering crowds. While the SPG men immediately blocked him, the Prime Minister was seen accepting the garland and handing it to a security official.
It is not yet known how the boy, who is 11 years old, managed to get so close to the Prime Minister in an area that is expected to be thoroughly sanitized. While hundreds of slogan-shouting supporters lined the road from the airport, they were well behind the barricades.
The Prime Minister, who is expected to open the 29th National Youth Festival this evening, was holding a roadshow from the airport to the Railway Sports Ground, where the ceremony will be held.
The Prime Minister has a five-layer security, of which the outermost layer is the responsibility of the state police.
The local police insisted that it was not a security breach. "We cannot call it a security breach because we had frisked and checked everybody who stood on both sides of the road. Even the garlands were thoroughly inspected," said Raman Gupta, the Hubballi-Dharwad city police commissioner.
More than 3,000 policemen were deployed as part of the security arrangements and the entire road was barricaded, he said. "But suddenly this child jumped and rushed towards the Prime Minister unexpectedly. This was despite us thoroughly telling every participant of the event about the dos and don'ts," he added.
BJP MLC Ravi Kumar appeared to agree. "This is no security breach. He went forward to give the garland. He's simply a fan," he said.
PM Modi's security was breached last year during his visit to Punjab. While on his way to Ferozepur for an election rally on January 5, the Prime Minister's cavalcade was stopped for 20 minutes on a flyover in full view of television cameras due to a blockade by protesting farmers.
A committee probing the security breach found lapses on part of the Punjab police, the Supreme Court had said. The five-member committee, led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Indu Malhotra, later suggested remedial measures to strengthen the Prime Minister's security.
The top court, which had formed the committee to determine if there was any criminal conspiracy in the security breach, had said the report would be sent to the Centre "so that necessary steps can be taken".
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