BHUBANESWAR: Grappling with the embarrassment over the daylight shooting of minister Naba Kishore Das by an assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI), the Odisha police have got into the act of reviewing the security of protected persons and instructing the personal security officers (PSOs) to strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
A circular on the existing SOPs have been reissued to district SPs/Twin City DGPs after the senior officers noticed that the PSOs were not properly following the protocols while providing security to the VVIPs/VIPs.
“We observed that basic SOPs were not being followed by the PSOs. Guidelines like the PSOs should first disembark from the vehicles carrying the VVIPs holding weapons, and others were not being properly adhered to,” said a senior officer.
On many occasions, the VVIPs reportedly ask their PSOs to travel in the pilot vehicle due to a lack of space in their own cars. “In such circumstances, the PSOs should contact their higher authorities. The senior officers will make efforts to convince the protected people to allow their PSOs to accompany them in the same vehicle,” he added.
The PSOs should first disembark from the vehicles, inspect the surroundings and then allow the VVIPs to step out. They should also hold their weapons and be ready to defend the VVIPs in case of any unprecedented threat.
In some instances, it has been observed that the PSOs are carrying the documents and the files of the VVIPs instead of holding their service weapon. Such behaviour may put the life of a VVIP at risk, said another senior police officer.
The circular has reiterated SOPs like to make certain that the VIPs get minimum exposure, remain at a vantage point near the protected person and observe the movements and hands of the people around him, bear in mind - no visitor known or unknown is above suspicion and to sit in the front seat of the car.
Some of the other SOPs are to ensure that their firearms are loaded but they should not be cogged, not hesitate to open fire in case of an emergency and in case of an attack to shift the protected person from the spot instead of retaliating, among others.
“An existing circular for PSOs of the protected people has been reissued. We are also planning to adopt the good practices of agencies like the Special Protection Group,” director general of police (DGP) Sunil Kumar Bansal told TNIE.