Thiruvananthapuram: The intelligence wing inquiring into the "misdirection" of the Prime Minister's convoy on Tuesday night have verified police wireless transmission records to find out "what went wrong" on that day.

The wing was likely to record the actions of senior officials in charge of Prime Minister's security, including that of the Inspector-General of Police in charge of security and Superintendent of Police (SP), who was assigned as route officer for the VVIP motorcade.

The Union Government manual on VVIP security clearly defines the role of such key officers. The report, soon to be submitted to the Government, will, in all probability dwell on the role of the SP assigned as "motorcade officer" and the Assistant Commandant of Police, who was posted as the motorcade "Marshal."

Prior to Prime Minister's visit, the police had conducted at least six rehearsals on the VVIP route. Top officials, including the Director-General of Police and the officer in charge of the PM's Special Protection Group (SPG), had participated in the rehearsal runs.

A senior officer said the convoy had got stuck at a traffic point in the city only because of an error of judgment on the part of the policeman acting as "pilot officer" in the lead vehicle. The police argument is that the incident was not "technically" a "security lapse." The department believes that the Prime Minister's security was not endangered at any point of time during his Kerala visit. The "misdirection" was accidental and not part of any plot, officials claimed.

The department would henceforth use only police vehicles with trained drivers as "pilot" for VVIP convoys. There was a serious lapse in using a private car hired by the Tourism Department for the purpose, but this was an established practice followed for the past several years.

The driver of a pilot vehicle has a crucial role to play in the overall security of a VIP motorcade. The pilot vehicle heads the "security box" of the VIP convoy, which consists of the PM's car, vehicles carrying Special Protection Group (SPG) commandos, a technical vehicle equipped with radio signal jamming devices and a spare car for the VIP.

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