Was the attack on BJP national president Amit Shah’s convoy at Alipiri on Friday a failure of the Intelligence wing in alerting the State government on its possibility?
“Yes,” say a few top police officials.
Sleuths of the Intelligence wing failed to caution the government on the agitators and the situation en route Tirumala when Mr. Shah, a Z-plus category VIP, proceeded to the temple.
JSP’s U-turn
On March 15, Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan, during the party’s fourth anniversary meeting, had attacked the TDP for its failures and levelled serious corruption charges against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son and IT Minister N. Lokesh, which was a big shock to the ruling party.
The Intelligence police did not hazard a guess that the JSP, which had been maintaining good relationship with the TDP for the last few years, would suddenly took a U-turn during the party’s public meeting in Guntur.
“We have to check whether the police concerned provided Z+ security to Mr. Shah and followed protocol or not,” a senior police officer said.
After the attack on the VIP’s convoy, the police, it is said, have stepped up vigil in the State and enhanced security for the BJP leaders and at Central government offices.
Vice-President’s visit
With Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu visiting Vijayawada on May 21 to participate in a couple of programmes on May 22, the police have stepped up security in the Gannavaram and Unguturu mandals.
Mr. Naidu will lay the foundation stone for the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) at Kondapavuluru on May 22. He will stay at Atkur village in Unguturu mandal for that night. The Vijayawada city police have clamped Section 144 (2) at the Gannavaram airport for 55 days from May 11 to prevent any untoward incidents.
A team of officials from the NIDM, the Vijayawada police, and the Revenue Department visited the site where the Vice-President would participate in the ground-breaking ceremony.
The Intelligence police had earlier failed to alert the government on the cash-for-vote scam; Tuni violence (Kapu Aikya Garjana); and the stampede during the Godavari Maha Pushkarams in which 29 pilgrims died in Rajamahendravaram.
