A young man carrying a revolver was detained while trying to move close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his padyatra to Aligarh on Thursday.
The man with a .32 bore revolver was arrested by the Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel in Tripalpur village when he was found nearing the second ring of the Congress leader’s security cordon.
Hari Krishna Sharma was arrested by the SPG personnel at around 8.30 am and was immediately handed over to the UP police. The local people said that the man belonged to Tappal village and was a Congress worker. “Hari Krishna had reportedly bought his revolver when he received compensation for his land and has always carried it on his person.
The incident took place two hours after Mr Gandhi resumed his footmarch to Aligarh. The Congress MP went to Zikarpur where three farmers were killed last year in anti-land acquisition protests.
Meanwhile, Mr Gandhi has been joined by Youth Congress leaders Meenakshi Natarajan and Ravnet Bittoo.
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‘Rahul must get proper security’
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
July 7: Union information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni on Thursday raised concern regarding the security of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi and sought proper security for him. “The security for people like Rahul Gandhi must be taken care of and proper steps taken,” Ms Soni stated after she was asked about the incident.
The man with a licensed .32 bore revolver was nabbed by Special Protection Group personnel accompanying the Congress leader, when he was found heading towards the second ring of the security cordon.
Mr Rahul is in Tappal on the third day of his padayatra and was headed towards Aligarh town for the Congress-backed ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ on Saturday.