The Tribune, January 30, 2003

HOW BRAZEN CAN BRAZEN BE/ BREACH OF PM’S SECURITY
Safe passage for intruder car
Abhay Jain

Gurgaon, January 29
The Maruti Esteem car, which strayed into the path of the motorcade of the Prime Minister and disappeared when the security forces fired at it, reached its destination in Gurgaon without being intercepted for 20 minutes. The three occupants of the car reached their destination without a hitch and coyly climbed into their beds past midnight. The Gurgaon police swung into action when they received information from their counterparts in Delhi that the getaway car had a Haryana registration (HR 26 Q 0427) issued by the Gurgaon Road Transport Authority.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Sukhbir Singh says that he was patrolling the DLF area when he received a message that the car, which intruded into the PM’s motorcade in South Delhi at about 10:45 PM, had a Gurgaon registration. The Delhi Police had also informed them that the car was headed towards Gurgaon, said the officer. After alerting all the check posts, the DSP rushed to the office of Sub Divisional Magistrate, Mr R K Kharab, where the vehicle was registered. They checked the vehicle records and traced its address. Immediately, the police raided the premises of the owner of the vehicle, Mr Umesh Singh, who told the policemen that he had given the car to his paternal uncle, Mr Dhare Singh. Later, the police swooped down on Mr Dhare Singh’s residence at Gandhi Nagar. During questioning, it was disclosed that he, along with a driver Ashok Kumar, had picked up a call girl. After taking some drinks, all of them were returning to Gurgaon from Delhi when they ``inadvertently’’ strayed into the motorcade of the Prime Minister. The security personnel fired many rounds at the Esteem but they did not bother to intercept the vehicle and it sped away. Mr Dhare Singh reportedly told the Gurgaon police that they did not stop the vehicle as the call girl was with them at that time. But they had no intention of creating problems for the Prime Minister’s security, Mr Dhare Singh told the local police. After dropping Mr Dhare Singh at his residence, the driver and the girl went to a workshop at village Jharsa chowk, on National Highway No. 8, and hid the vehicle. Later, the Gurgaon police found the vehicle during a search operation. There were at least three bullets marks at the back of the vehicle and the rear glass had smashed due to the firing.

The Gurgaon Police handed over the three accused and the vehicle to Delhi Police at about 1 am, said DSP Sukhbir Singh. The DSP said that the three occupants of the car — Dhare Singh, Ashok Kumar and Umesh Singh — had no criminal antecedents. Nor was any weapon or any unobjectionable material found in their possession, said the officer. However, the incident had exposed the chinks in security: It remained a mystery how the car strayed into the Prime Minister’s motorcade and stayed on the road for a considerable time without being intercepted. Had the security personnel failed to record the registration number of the vehicle correctly, the car would still be parked in some makeshift workshop.