Chandigarh, Sept. 11 (The Telegraph): A security bear hug triggered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Chandigarh trip today shut schools and turned the city's main crematorium into a parking lot, forcing a Kargil hero to shift his son's last rites.

Modi later tweeted his regrets for the "inconvenience" to citizens during his five-hour visit, "especially shutting of schools", and promised an inquiry.

A police officer said that never before had the Chandigarh administration ordered schools shut during a VIP visit. But this time the city had been given over to some 4,600 police, commandos and SWAT team members who erected barricades and rerouted traffic, causing huge snarls.

Brigadier (retd) Devinder Singh, a Kargil veteran denied a war medal by an incorrect report, was forced to travel an extra 10km through choked streets this afternoon to cremate son Karan Angad, 24, killed in a road accident yesterday morning.

Chandigarh's largest crematorium in Sector 25, close to the Prime Minister's rally venue, had been converted into a makeshift car park for the rallyists.

Sources said the cops manning the barricades nearby told people no cremations were being allowed there for "security reasons" and redirected hearses towards the Mohali or Mani Majra cremation grounds, about 10km away on either side.

"We had to go to Mohali after crematorium staff said they had orders not to allow cremations today," a relative of Singh said.

Singh had commanded the 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik sector during the Kargil war and led the critical battle for Point 5203, among the earliest to be overrun by Pakistani troops. He also led the assaults on the Jubbar complex, one of the war's toughest campaigns.

A month before the operations began, Singh had predicted the pattern of intrusions by Pakistani army regulars during a corps-level war game. But Lt Gen Kishan Pal, the then 15 Corps commander, allegedly underplayed his role in biased reports.

Singh, originally recommended for a Mahavir Chakra, the second-highest gallantry award, instead received the peacetime decoration of a Vishisht Seva Medal. But five years ago, the armed forces tribunal upheld Singh's case and ordered the army to rewrite its Kargil war account.

Many other residents who had to cremate their dead today were asking why no prior announcement had been made about the virtual closure of the Sector 25 crematorium.

An attendant at the Mohali cremation ground said many bereaved families had delayed the cremations of loved ones, fearing traffic bottlenecks. "Even the dead now have to step aside for our politicians," he said.

Several local Congress politicians were detained late last night to pre-empt a black flag protest during the Prime Minister's visit.

"We simply wanted to protest the rising prices and were detained. This has never happened before in India," Chandigarh Congress chief Pardeep Chhabra said.

Twitter trembled with indignation. "First PM visit to shutdown all 187 schools in Chandigarh as well as crematorium," tweeted Krishan Pratap Singh.

"Closing crematoriums in Chandigarh during Narendra Modi's visit is also to prevent those who died waiting for Achhe Din from creating Havoc," posted Joy.

Modi tweeted his regrets. "The inconvenience caused to citizens in Chandigarh, especially shutting of schools due to my visit is regretted. It was totally avoidable," he wrote. "An inquiry will be held & responsibility will be fixed...."

Modi's office has ordered an inquiry and asked the Special Protection Group, which handles the Prime Minister's security, to explain who had ordered the schools closed and why the crematorium was turned into a parking lot, an official said.

The Union home ministry too has sought a report from the Chandigarh administration.

A senior police officer blamed "both the SPG and the local administration" for their "overreaction". He said the administration had closed the schools because Modi's visit clashed with the school hours.

Modi arrived around 9.15am, inaugurated the new airport terminal, addressed the convocation of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, and held a rally where he handed over housing board flat keys to select families.

In November 2009, when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Chandigarh, a patient had died allegedly because the traffic restrictions had delayed his ambulance on the way to hospital.

Singh later wrote to the family of Sumit Verma, 32, expressing profound grief and saying he had "issued instructions so that in future, authorities are more sensitive to the concerns of the common man while imposing such restrictions for reasons of security".

This time, the administration had in advance notified the hospital routes to be followed today and ordered cops to ensure that patients weren't delayed in traffic. But reports said some ambulances had to make detours.

Photo credit: The Telegraph