NEW DELHI: The Special Protection Group mandated by parliament to guard Rahul Gandhi know his blood group as part of their drill. It must have shocked Mr Gandhi’s sympathisers, therefore, when a team of Delhi Police officers landed unexpectedly at his residence and inquired about the colour of his hair and eyes.

The Congress party has accused the government of spying on the Congress party scion and has demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress leader gets SPG protection because he is the son of former slain prime minister Rajiv Gandhi whose immediate family is given protection by law.

Reports said a police team visited the residence of Congress vice-president apparently to enquire about the incident in which some policemen had sought details of his appearance in a case of alleged profiling.

A team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal visited Mr Rahul’s Tughlak Lane residence to enquire about the incident and the sequence of events. The team also checked the pictures of the policemen who had visited Mr Rahul’s residence a couple of days ago, reports said. The police team will give a report in this regard to Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in New Delhi that a police inspector had enquired about the colour of Mr Rahul’s hair and eyes, age, height, the shoes he uses, his father’s name and the places he visits.

Mr Singhvi said the Delhi Police ASI was “found snooping” and making “unnecessary and weird” enquiries.

The incident gave ammunition to Mr Singhvi to launch a sharp attack on the government saying it is a case of “political espionage and snooping” on rivals.

In a veiled reference to the snooping on a young woman in Gujarat during the tenure of Mr Modi as chief minister, Mr Singhvi, without naming the prime minister, said “espionage and surveillance” of political rivals might be a Gujarat model but not an Indian model.

Senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko termed it a “breach of privacy and highly unacceptable”.

“It is intruding into the privacy of the citizen by Delhi Police without any valid purpose and is highly unacceptable,” he said. “Who has done this and under whose instructions, we would like to know. If it is true, then senior officials should explain who authorised them to come.”

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2015

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