Guwahati, Jan. 13 (IANS): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Jan. 12 demanded that his Punjab counterpart Charanjit Singh Channi be arrested for his alleged "conspiracy" in the breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modis security on January 5.
The Assam chief minister also alleged that the Congress high command and the party's other central leaders were part of the alleged conspiracy against the prime minister.
On January 5, the prime minister's rally in Ferozepur, Punjab, had to be cancelled due to a security lapse after some protesters blocked a route and forced his convoy to spend about 20 minutes on a flyover. The prime minister was enroute the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala when the incident happened.
The demonstrators on the PM's route were not farmers, but supporters of Khalistan, Sarma claimed.
All evidence and purported sting operation by a television channel in Punjab have made it clear that the Congress high command and the Punjab chief minister conspired to assassinate the prime minister, Sarma claimed.
Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb alleged that the breach in the PM's security in Congress-ruled Punjab was a "pre-planned" conspiracy, while his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh demanded a comprehensive probe into the matter.
Talking to the media in Agartala, Deb said that not only the Punjab chief secretary and director general of Police violated all standard norms to receive and send off the PM, the leadership of Punjab government too acted with Khalistani mentality.
In Imphal, the Manipur CM urged people to condemn the PM's security breach and claimed that the Punjab Police did not take any attempt to clear the road through which the PM was travelling, leading to blockade of the PM's cavalcade on a flyover.
"For the first time in the history of India a Prime Minister was insulted in a planned manner and his life was threatened within the country," Singh said.
He wondered why the Punjab chief minister, any other senior minister, the CS or the DGP did not receive the prime minister at the airport.