Congress sees ‘sniper’ threat in ‘green light’ incident with Rahul, govt calls it reflection

After a ‘green light’ was pointed at Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, Congress seeks probe while home ministry says reflection of AICC cameraman’s phone.

After the recent verdict on the Rafale case, the Congress President reportedly remarked that the apex court had concluded that PM Modi was a thief | Nand Kumar

New Delhi: Moments after a “green light” was seen pointed at Congress party president Rahul Gandhi while he was addressing the media during a visit to Amethi Thursday, three senior party leaders wrote a letter to home minister Rajnath Singh to point out the “serious lapse”, stating the laser could have been from a “sniper gun”.

However, the home ministry said the “green light” was nothing but a “reflection” from the phone of an All India Congress Committee (AICC) photographer who was recording Gandhi’s press address.

The ministry also declined that it received any letter from the Congress.

Party leaders Jairam Ramesh, Ahmed Patel and Randeep Singh Surjewala, in their letter, have called for a probe over the possibility of the Congress president being targeted by a potential assassin.

The letter pointed out that India has had a history of political assassinations — from Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress president’s grandmother and father.

It also mentioned that Gandhi is “a high-risk target”, especially vulnerable during the extensive electioneering in the ongoing 2019 elections.

‘Potential weapon’

In its letter, the Congress said during Gandhi’s media interaction, the “laser (green) was pointed at his head, intermittently on at least seven separate occasions in a short period; including twice at his temple on the right side of the head”.

“A perusal of the video by various persons including former security personnel leads to a prima facie conclusions that this laser could emanate from a potential weapon as a sniper gun,” it added.

While questioning the security arrangements provided by the Uttar Pradesh government, the letter requested the home minister to initiate immediate action in the matter to investigate and neutralise the threat.

“We also call upon you to ensure that full security protocol-including appropriate sanitization of the area is undertaken by the SPG (special protection group) as also the local administration, who are obligated to do so,” it said.

The Congress president is an SPG protectee.

‘No security implication’

After the home ministry’s attention was drawn to the reports of the incident, the director (SPG) was asked to verify the factual position, a ministry spokesperson told ThePrint.

“Director (SPG) has informed MHA that they have gone through the Video Clipping of the incident very closely. The “green light” shown in the clipping was found to be that of a mobile phone used by the AICC photographer, who was videographing the press interaction of Rahul Gandhi near the collectorate at Amethi,” said the spokesperson.

He added, “Director (SPG) has also informed MHA that this position was conveyed to the personal staff of Shri Rahul Gandhi. He has also confirmed that there was no security implication whatsoever.”