india

Updated: Apr 11, 2019 22:45 IST

A green laser dot dancing repeatedly on Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s head while he was interacting with the media in Amethi after filing his nomination papers on Wednesday threw the Congress party into a tizzy, till it emerged that the light probably emanated from a mobile phone being used by a Congress photographer to record his interaction.

On Thursday, a letter addressed to the home ministry by three Congress leaders, and raising this concern, was leaked to the media. It later emerged that the letter was a draft.

Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala maintained that the party has not sent a letter to the home ministry.

However, he urged the Special Protection Group (SPG) and the home ministry to take appropriate steps to ensure the security of party chief Gandhi during campaigning across the country.

The security of Rahul Gandhi is the responsibility of the SPG and the home ministry. It is for them to take appropriate steps to ensure his complete security details and appropriate sanitisation,” he added. The home ministry too said it has not yet received any such letter. A home ministry spokesperson said the ministry asked the Director SPG -- the elite team of commandos mandated to guard Prime Minister, ex-PMs and their immediate family – to “verify the factual position” as soon as its attention drawn to reports that there was an incident of “green light” being pointed at Gandhi in Amethi on Wednesday.

The SPG Director informed the home ministry that the force went through the video clipping of the incident very closely, the spokesperson added.

“The green light shown in the clipping was found to that of a mobile phone used by the AICC (All India Congress Committee) photographer, who was video graphing the impromptu press conference of Rahul Gandhi near the collectorate at Amethi.” The spokesperson said the SPG director confirmed that there was no security implication whatsoever and the SPG has conveyed these facts to Gandhi’s office. The draft of the letter to the home ministry was signed by Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh and Surjewala.

A senior functionary of the Congress claimed the party consulted security experts in this regard. In the draft letter, the three ask the ministry to “probe and neutralize the threat, if any,” and ensure that the protocol relating the Congress president’s security detail is strictly followed. The draft letter claims a green laser was pointed seven times at Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s head.

The Congress functionary quoted above said the party was also planning to attach a video clip of his media interaction to the home ministry. “A perusal of the video leads to a prima facie conclusion that this laser could emanate from a potential weapon such as a sniper gun,” the draft letter said. During the Karnataka elections last year, the Congress suspected sabotage when a plane taking Rahul Gandhi suddenly plunged and shuddered violently despite clear weather.

A DGCA investigation report released later blamed it on an error in the Flight Control Computer and a delay by the crew in dealing with the situation.