Cops release man detained for breaching PM security

Santiniketan : The police have released a man, who was detained on Friday for breaching the security cordon of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event at the Visva Bharati University campus, after a thorough investigation, a senior officer said on Saturday.

Swapan Majhi, a resident of Hooghly district, had managed to climb up to the dais to present a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore to the prime minister. “He was detained by the police. Later, a team of police and central agencies questioned him. We checked his credentials. He had somehow managed to get a pass for the convocation ceremony (of the university),” Superintendent of Police (SP), Birbhum, Sudhir Kumar, said.

“We are checking how did he manage to get the pass. We have released him after questioning,” another senior police officer said.

As Modi was about to leave the venue after the convocation ceremony on Friday, the man had suddenly climbed up to the dais to give him the portrait. The prime minister had taken the portrait and handed it over to his securitymen.

The Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel had caught hold of the man and removed him from the dais. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had left the dais by then.     — PTI

Multi-layered security arrangements were put in place in Santiniketan in view of the visit of the high-profile dignitaries, including West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi.

“I have seen the incident, I was present on the dais then. I don’t know the man,” the officiating Vice-Chancellor of Visva Bharati University, Sabujkali Sen, had said on Friday.