BJP alleges security lapses during PM visit

Chennai: BJP State President K Annalamalai, along with a few other party colleagues, called on Governor R N Ravi and presented a memorandum alleging that most of the metal detectors, both hand held and fixed to door frames, and bomb detectors used by the police for providing security when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chennai were not working.

Annamalai said that it was a serious security lapse as the Prime Minister’s visit was to inaugurate the 44th Chess Olympiad on July 29 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium, which had many important people, including foreign dignitaries, at that time.

Ensuring adequate and functional security devices was the responsibility of the State police department and the government, he said, adding a status report seeking information on the devices in all the police stations was sent out only the central agencies point out the lapse during the Prime Minister’s visit.

Urging the Governor to instruct the State government to hold an impartial enquiry into the matter and punish all those found guilty, he also wanted an independent audit on the present inventory of security devices.

By compromising on security devices, the government had put the Prime Minister at risk and that the problem was also manifested in protecting other places of strategic importance, he alleged.

‘Nobody seems to be safe under the DMK Govt’t rule in Tamil Nadu,’ he said in his Twitter message, adding ‘The worst part is TN Govt trying to hide that now.’

Claiming that the BJP was presenting the memorandum with evidence of the State government’s wrong doing, he said they also presented a memorandum on the rampant corruption in the implementation of Jal Jeevan in the State, requesting an independent audit in the matter.

On what he called ‘the government’s drama of the ban on Online gaming (Rummy and Poker), Annamalai asked why ‘After the Hon Gov of TN promulgated the ordinance, why was it kept unnotified?’

He also asked if the Tamil Nadu Gaming Authority that had to be created to formulate procedures to put the law into practice was formed.  

 Between October 8 and November 27, six persons in Tamil Nadu lost their lives to online gaming, which meant that online gaming continued despite the government passing the ordinance on October 3 and introducing new regulations, he said.