New Delhi: A traffic inspector of Kerala Police has been held responsible for a lapse in the security of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to the state on October 31.
A report to this effect said the inspector had signalled the VVIP motorcade in the wrong direction when it was on its way to the Raj Bhavan from the Thiruvananthapuram airport for a night halt by Singh, sources said.
Though the convoy deviated from the laid-out route by a few metres, the mistake was soon realised and the carcade reverted to the actual route. But this lapse led to the arrest of Shibu, the driver who was leading the convoy in the pilot car, the sources said.
Initial reports suggested Shibu was responsible for the goof-up but an investigation conducted by the elite Special Protection Group and other security agencies pointed the finger at the traffic inspector who allegedly "mis-directed" the Prime Minister's convoy.
"Possible nervousness" could be one reason for showing the convoy the wrong direction, the sources said.
A post-mortem of the incident also surprised security agencies when Kerala Police admitted it had been hiring private taxi drivers for such occasions for the past 25 years.
According to rules, either a driver from the state police or a government employee can lead the convoy of a VVIP but due to an acute shortage of personnel, the Kerala government has been hiring private taxi drivers.
The private taxi driver was cleared by state security agencies, a practice mandatory in Kerala for all tourist taxi operators, they said.
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