Serious security lapses by the Kerala police in the proceedings related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Kerala have emerged. The security plan prepared by Kerala ADGP Intelligence was leaked. Modiji will likely hold a roadshow in Kochi on 24 April, stay for the night, and then move to Thiruvananthapuram.

The 49-page report detailing police security prepared for the Prime Minister was circulated. Kerala police admitted that deployment details for the PM’s scheduled visit to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram were leaked. It contains the PM’s itinerary and timings in fine detail and dangerously specifies the responsibilities assigned to individual officers tasked with his protection.

Earlier, it was found that personnel within Kerala police leaked sensitive information about RSS leaders from the police database. It was also confirmed that the data was stolen on behalf of the terror outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). Keeping all this in mind, the police had prepared a system for loophole security. Unfortunately, the results remain the same, and data continues to be compromised.

HinduPost has been tracking the presence of highly radicalized Islamist officers in Kerala police who call themselves ‘Pacha Velicham’ (Green Light). The latest leak confirms that such extremist groups remain active within Kerala police.

The complete information of the officers in charge of security has also been compromised. Intelligence ADGP T K Vinod Kumar has started an investigation into the incident. The security plan was handed over only to the top officials of the districts that our Prime Minister plans to visit. An explanation was sought from the officials regarding this. Janmabhumi reported that the ADGP informed that a new scheme had been prepared to replace the leaked one.

Extensive security arrangements usually accompany a VVIP visit. Various agencies like SPG, NSG, IB, state intelligence, and local police assess the security arrangements and prepare accordingly. All these techniques have gone awry.

ADGP Intelligence prepares the all-inclusive security scheme. Before the visit, the Prime Minister’s travel arrangements, accommodation, who should participate in the programs, what arrangements should be made there, information about food, and who should be there are all charted well in advance.

The details include the number of police personnel meant to be deployed at each point, names of officers in charge of each strategic point, alternative arrangements in an emergency, and the routes the PM’s convoy would take.

Islamist Terror

The circular mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing threats from terrorists. The situation after the Pulwama attack and the border conflict in the North West region are serious issues related to the Prime Minister’s security. Terrorist organizations with international connections are likely to infiltrate the coastal zone of Kerala, it added.

Some young women from Kerala have joined terrorist organizations like Islamic State (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra. The paper explains that the arrest of some youths by the NIA from Kankamala in Kannur should be taken seriously. Though these outfits are not publicly active, they have several sleeper cells and thousands of active extremists who are now lying low.

The circular says that the PFI (banned in Bharat) has roots in Kerala and is a security threat to the Prime Minister. Threats by terror suspect Abdul Nasar Madani-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind managed Welfare Party of India (WPI) should also be taken seriously. The activities of these organizations should be closely monitored.

Incidentally, our Supreme Court granted bail to the dangerous bomb blast mastermind Madani last week. It should be noted that other terror masterminds, like Siddique Kappan, too, have obtained bail and are back in Kerala. WPI founder Dr. SQR Ilyas’s son Umar Khalid was recently granted bail but is back in Tihar but has telephone call facilities thrice a week.

Maoists

Maoists are also a security threat. Though many Maoists have been eliminated in retaliatory action by central and various state agencies, some continue arriving in Kerala as laborers. Those who come are residents of the Maoist region and North East.

There are indications that Maoist sympathizers are infiltrating the migrant workers in Kerala. Maoist presence has increased in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Kannur districts.

Just last week, Jharkhand police arrested a leader of the banned People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI) from Kerala’s Kozhikode district, where he had been a migrant worker for at least a month. He was identified as Ajay Oraon, 27, and there was a lookout notice issued in his name in Jharkhand. Oraon was staying in a camp of migrant workers at Pantheerankavu under Kozhikode city limits and was tracked after the tower location of his mobile phone was traced.

Kerala BJP state president K Surendran received a threatening message last week. The hand-written letter in Malayalam said that a suicide squad would harm Modiji. Unusually, the threatening correspondence carried the name, mobile phone number, and signature of the purported sender, a retired college employee in Kochi. Some locals are being grilled.

The enmity between CPM and RSS in Kerala, protests against the central government by radical youth organizations, and ISIS connections in Kerala should be analyzed seriously. Though the paper did not specify any youth organization by name, a Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) questionnaire campaign to ‘bust the Modi myth’ is afoot.

All these things should be taken into account while preparing the security arrangements. The information about possible protests and black flag demonstrations against the Prime Minister should be collected in advance.

BJP Slams Pinarayi Government

Union Minister of State for external affairs V Muraleedharan termed the leak highly serious and added CM Pinarayi Vijayan, who handles the home portfolio, couldn’t be allowed to wash his hands of such a lapse. Muraleedharan said the Elathur train arson incident, which had the shades of a terrorist attack and claimed three lives, emphasized the threat to national security posed by radicals operating with impunity in Kerala. He alleged that the State police viewed the PM’s security lightly.

The circular explains that local conditions should also be considered for safety. Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioners will be responsible for security. There are allegations of a state-sponsored lapse in security, as was seen in Punjab with the active participation of Pacha Velicham. Such factors do not auger well for national security.

The State Special Branch has reportedly launched an internal inquiry into how the security scheme, which included the name and deployment of scores of officers, ended up in the public domain.