Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have been killed by a drone or telescopic gun during his recent visit to India's Punjab state, Federal Minister Giriraj Singh claimed on Friday.
While heading to a venue in Punjab, Modi's cavalcade remained stuck on a flyover for 20 minutes due to the presence of protesters on his route in Punjab. The incident has been reported as a serious security lapse.
"It was not a coincidence but a conspiracy to drown the Prime Minister in the well of death. He survived by the grace of Mahadev [Lord Shiva]", Singh said in a tweet in the Hindi language.
Since Wednesday, politicians from the federally governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and main opposition Congress party have been engaged in a verbal spat over what actually transpired during the incident and how it's being projected.
Punjab state chief and Congress politician Charanjit Singh Channi has said that there was no security lapse on the part of his government.
The federal Home Ministry, however, has sought a detailed report on the "serious security lapse" from the Punjab government.
The Centre and Punjab government have announced separate inquiries into the incident.
On Friday, India's top court, while responding to a petition calling for an investigation into the security lapse, directed that Prime Minister Modi's travel records be preserved and that both the inquiries be paused until Monday.