Chandigarh: Man held for planning to attack LK Advani

A man has been detained here for allegedly planning an attack on LK Advani during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's Jan Chetna Yatra, police said Thursday.

“We have taken a person into custody. We are investigating the matter,” Chandigarh senior superintendent of police Naunihal Singh said here Thursday.

Advani, who arrived here Wednesday evening during his yatra, has left for Panchkula in Haryana, 15 km from here. His yatra will enter Sirmaur district in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh later Thursday.

The man, who is believed to be from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and was caught with an assembled weapon, was planning to attack Advani during his stay here or in Panchkula, a police source said.

Police have not yet disclosed the man’s identity.

Advani, who faced some protests from radical Sikh organisations and leaders in Punjab in the last three days, was shown black flags by a section of Sikh leaders in Chandigarh as he came out of Hotel Shivalikview in Sector 17 here after addressing media.

Police quickly took away the protestors and Advani’s cavalcade moved towards Panchkula town in Haryana.

The president of the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), Karnail Singh Peermohammad, was taken into preventive custody along with some other leaders by Chandigarh police Wednesday as Advani’s yatra headed for the city.

The AISSF leaders were planning to disrupt his yatra by showing black flags.