Mr Modi will land at the HAL Airport at 9.20 am
Ahead of the PM's and German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Bosch campus on Hosur Road, policemen and private security personnel on duty at the entrance of the campus in Bengaluru on Monday (Photo: R. Samuel)
Bengaluru: The City will turn into a fortress today for the two heads of States – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who are visiting Bengaluru on Tuesday to discuss the role of technology and innovation in manufacturing and Information Technology services for the NDA government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ initiatives.
“There will be two convoys of the dignitaries and appropriate security will be provided to them during their visit in the city as per the rulebook,” said an official source. The Director General and Inspector General of Police Om Prakash and Commissioner N.S. Megharikh held a closed door meeting on Sunday with the security and Intelligence agencies – Special Protection Group (SPG) , Intelligence Bureau and business heads and representatives of German auto major Bosch, who will meet the two dignitaries on Tuesday in their facilities in Koramangala and Adugodi..
Mr Modi will land at the HAL Airport at 9.20 am and will head straight to the Bosch (I) facility in Koramangala, where he will meet Ms Merkel. The dignitaries will spend time at the 50-billion euro German facility before heading to Bosch (II) facility in nearby Adugodi. They will later go to Leela Palace Hotel on old Airport Road before returning to Delhi from the HAL Airport around 3 pm.
Though Mr Modi enjoys Z plus security as the Prime Minister, his security is unprecedented in comparison to any of his predecessors because of the heightened threat perception from the twin global terrorist organisations – Al Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS). “The SPG is responsible for the PM’s security and will take care of the inner circle, but the onus of the safety and security of the VVIPs is on the local police, who have been suitably deployed at strategic places. The roads on which the two heads of state will travel have been sanitised. There will be traffic pileups in the City tomorrow (Tuesday) from 8 am till late evening,” said an official source.
Most of the SPG will be in combat gear carrying F2000 bullpup assault rifles and Glock pistols, some of them will be in mufti to keep a hawk’s eye on the traffic movement. Besides the SPG the National Security Guards (NSG) commandos will also accompany the PM and German Chancellor’s convoys. The SPG has already conducted a reconnaissance of the City roads on which the convoys will travel.
Mock drill: Commuters feel the heat in advance
A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city, thousands of commuters, on Monday had a bitter taste of what could be in store for them on Tuesday because of VVIP movement in the city. Mr Modi along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit two Bosch plants – one is Koramangala and the other in Adugodi – and a star hotel on Old Airport Road. On Monday, the commuters faced the brunt of traffic gridlocks as the police took up a mock traffic drill to check the preparedness of their personnel. Continuous rains also added to the misery of commuters.
Those travelling in the CBD, Adugodi, Koramangala, Madiwala and surrounding areas were stranded for over an hour because of the mock drill. Citizens vent out their frustration on social media sites and also mocked the mock drill. But the traffic police maintained that they had to conduct such exercises as it involves the security of VVIPs.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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