Indian EC suspends officer for checking Modi’s chopper

India's Election Commission has suspended a senior officer for allegedly frisking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter while he was addressing an election meeting.

Modi was in the eastern state of Odisha when the incident happened, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

Mohammed Mohsin, a 1996-batch Indian Administrative Service officer who was posted as election observer in Odisha's Samabalpur district, did not act in conformity with the EC's instructions concerning Special Protection Group (SPG) protectees, according to an order issued by the commission late on Wednesday night.

"Checking of the Prime Minister's chopper, undertaken at Sambalpur, was not in accordance with the EC guidelines as SPG protectees are exempt from such checking," an official said.

The action against the officer came a day after the Prime Minister's visit to Sambalpur on Tuesday.

The EC took the action against Mohsin on the basis of a report from the District Collector and the Deputy Inspector General of Police.

The check by Mohsin of the Prime Minister's helicopter was stated to delayed its take off its from the place by or around 15 minutes, an official said.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's helicopter was also checked by the EC's flying squad personnel in Rourkela on Tuesday and Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's helicopter was also subjected to a similar check at Sambalpur on Tuesdayby the flying squad.