Part of Jaitley's convoy gets separated in Kolkata

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's car was virtually left unguarded when a part of his convoy got separated here on Saturday.

Jaitley, who flew into the city on Saturday morning to visit the residence of late BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya to offer his condolences, was on his way from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport when his vehicle and the rear of the convoy turned right for the Raj Bhavan from the A.J.C. Bose Road flyover.

The three vehicles at the head of the convoy including the minister's pilot car, however, took a different route as they headed for Dalmiya's residence.

A senior police officer said as per the original schedule, Jaitley was slated to head straight for Dalmiya's residence from the airport. "It could well be that due to some communication gap, the Central Industrial Security Force (which takes care of the minister's security) could not inform us that he has changed the route due to some emergency."

But the officer claimed that some of the vehicles in the convoy remained with the minister all through. "The ones which got separated, also joined soon."

The officer said the situation developed as there was a lack of communication between the three vanguards and the minister's car, which could be due to the mobile jammer put in place as a security measure.

The cards at the head of the convoy reached the Raj Bhavan a few minutes after the minister's car.

But when Jaitley resumed his journey from the Raj Bhavan for Dalmiya's residence, the full convoy was with him.