SSP asked us to vacate road, said PM was coming, we thought he was bluffing: Farmer leader

Prime Minister Modi was to visit Ferozepur, Punjab to lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects. The trip was cancelled post a security breach. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari) chief Surjit Singh Phool on Thursday said that when the Senior Superintendent of Police Ferozepur asked them to vacate the road saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his way to a rally by road, they thought that the officer was "bluffing".

Speaking to the reporters, Phool said, "SSP Ferozepur asked us to vacate the road saying that the prime minister was going to the rally venue by road. We thought he was bluffing."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab's Ferozepur was called off citing major security lapse. The PM was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes due to the road being blocked by some protesters, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement. The MHA has taken cognisance of this serious security lapse has sought a detailed report from the state government.

The BJP has blamed the ruling Congress government for sabotaging PM's schedule program and for the major security lapse.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi denied the allegations of any security breach of the Prime Minister saying that he did it have any information about the change of route of the PM.

"We had asked them (PMO) to discontinue the visit due to bad weather conditions and protests. We had no information of his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) sudden route change. There was no security lapse during the PM visit," Channi said on Wednesday addressing a press conference.

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has sought resignation from Channi saying that the Punjab government cannot provide smooth passage to the Prime Minister of the country and that too just 10 kilometres from the Pakistan border.

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