An advance team of US Secret Service agents who are in the capital to
ensure the security of President Barack Obama during his three-day India
visit are reportedly "bullying" their Indian counterparts on every
aspect of the security.
Well-informed sources said that around 25
Secret Service agents arrived in the capital Jan 13. They have attended
several meeting with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials and Delhi
Police personnel for the security arrangements for Obama's visit, but
their "overbearing" attitude is said to be upsetting junior police
officials.
"We have discussed every minute security detail of our
arrangements with the Secret Service agents. We are also working on the
suggestions they shared with us. But their demands are increasing every
time. They don't behave like the security agencies of other countries,"
an official, close to the security arrangements for the Obama visit,
told IANS.
He said: "I have done my 30 years in Delhi Police and
made arrangements for several high profile foreign dignitaries. I have
good friends in security agencies of other countries, but the US Secret
Service agents are not like them. They are very rude and overbearing. It
appears that they do not like to give importance to us."
Another
source told IANS that the advance US Secret Service agents are
"interfering in all our security arrangements and trying to show
themselves as more competent and with more expertise".
Since the
US Secret Service team arrived in the capital, they are "demanding new
things and trying to point out loopholes in several aspects", he said.
"Now
they want to position surveillance satellites to track each and every
movement of Obama, and are pressurizing us to cut short the time of
Obama's stay in the open air on Rajpath for the Republic Day parade,"
the official said.
"We are ready to provide surveillance
satellite facility on Rajpath on Jan 26 as we are also keen to ensure
safe arrangements for the VVIP enclosure where Obama will be seated
along with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Despite
all our efforts to please them with our arrangements, the Secret
Service agents are exhibiting their mistrust in us. Now they have
demanded to deploy dozens of their own snipers on the rooftops in the
two-kilometre circle of Rajpath along with Delhi Police snipers," he
said.
The Indian security agencies are ready to provide a
seven-layer security on Rajpath during the two hours that Obama will
spend in the open watching the parade.
The US forces will provide
close proximity security to Obama while the National Security Guard
(NSG) commandos will be in the second layer, and the third will be
covered by the Special Protection Group (SPG), while other three layers
will be managed by the Delhi Police.
Another team of over 300 US
Secret Service agents will reach Delhi Jan 25 morning along with the US
president, another official said.
The US team is staying in the
super-luxury ITC Maurya hotel where the US president will be stationed
during his three day visit between Jan 25 and Jan 27,
(Rajnish Singh can be contacted [email protected]
