‘Dodging’ Rahul irks state police

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s whirlwind tour of Mangarh in Pratapgarh to meet the families who lost their dear ones in the stampede at Bhakti Dham Ashram has not gone down well with the Pratapgarh police.

Miffed at the “security breach”,the Pratapgarh police have sent a complaint to the state government on Saturday blaming Rahul for violation of security norms and “dodging” the police on security duty. “In a deliberate move to keep the police confused,Rahul’s SPG security cover was divided in two teams. While one team accompanied Rahul,the other kept us engaged so that he could secretly make his way to Manikpur Raj Ghat and other villages,violating the security norms,” said Chandra Prakash,Inspector General of Police of Allahabad Range.

According to M P Mishra,Superintendent of Police of Pratapgarh,the SPG team misled the police team about Rahul’s location for almost four hours. “Our policemen were waiting for him at the ashram. As part of the strategy,one team of his security was stationed at the ashram giving us the impression that Rahul may come here anytime but he never turned up,” said Mishra. “This was a serious matter as Rahul’s security in the state is the responsibility of the state police. Even the police escort of the district,who were part of Rahul’s fleet was misled and sent to the ashram when Rahul was at Bidasi village,” said the IG.

Congress Legislative Party leader Pramod Tiwari,however,termed it as “incompetence” of the UP Police.