By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Anxious to avoid last year’s security breach when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pilot car took a wrong turn, police Wednesday said “everything was in place” to receive President Pratibha Patil, whose three-day Kerala visit begins Wednesday.
About 1,500 police personnel have been deployed for the visit and have taken up surveillance of all entry and exit points of the city, including railway stations and hotels.
“The main convoy of around 30 vehicles would be manned and operated by our department and there are some more vehicles attached to the main convoy. We have done several trial runs and everything is in place,” Arun Kumar Sinha, inspector general of police, told IANS.
Last year, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived, his pilot car was driven by a local taxi driver who made a wrong turn, bringing Singh’s vehicle to a screeching halt in the heart of the city. Two senior police officials were transferred after that lapse.
Patil arrives Wednesday evening for her first visit to the state after taking over as president. She will attend a banquet hosted by Governor R.L. Bhatia at the state owned Mascot hotel before retiring for the night at the Raj Bhavan.
On Thursday, she attends a public meeting on the occasion of Kerala formation day and then goes to Kovalam, 12 km from here.
The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a daylong shutdown Thursday to protest the callous attitude of the central government towards the state.
On Friday, the president leaves for Chennai.