Bhubaneswar: The state government has asked the Odisha Police as well as the district administrations to prevent the leakage of sensitive information related to the VVIP visits.

The Home Department has issued a directive in this regard to the Director General Police (DGP), Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs), Director of Intelligence, all district Collectors and Superintendents of Police (SPs) recently.

In the directive, the Home Department has asked the police officials as well as the district Collectors to exercise strict due diligence in handling and sharing of sensitive information regarding the VVIP visits, including minute-to-minute programme and details of security arrangements.

Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had expressed concern over leakage of sensitive information during the VVIP visits.

The ministry had sent a letter in this regard to the Chief Secretaries/administrators of all states and UTs in November last year.

In most of the cases, the leakages have been due to sharing of such information on social media platforms, which subsequently reached the hands of unauthorized persons, said the ministry.

The Centre had suggested certain measures to prevent leakage and unauthorized transmission of sensitive information regarding the VVIP visits.

According to the Centre, information on minute-to-minute programme, details of security arrangements and other operational matters related to VVIP/VIP visits should be shared only with the authorized stakeholders on a need-to-know basis.

Besides, the police in all states and UTs should have reliable and secured communication networks for information sharing, coordination and command & control during VVIP visits.

Moreover, sensitive information related to VVIP/VIP visits should not be shared through social media platforms as it significantly increases the possibility of getting communicated to unauthorized persons.