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Prasad shot at in Bihar poll rally

PATNA, Oct. 6. -- It was a close call for senior BJP leader and former Union minister, Mr Ravishankar Prasad, today.
A shot fired from a very close distance hit his left hand, causing multiple fracture. Mr Prasad was attacked at the campaign rally of a local party candidate, Mr Rameshwar Chaurasia, at Nokha in Rohtas district of Bihar. Another BJP heavyweight, Mr Pramod Majahan, was present on the dais.
The former minister is currently recovering in a private nursing home in Patna and doctors attending on him declared that Mr Prasad was out of danger. From his hospital bed, Mr Prasad said he believed he had been the target. "He (the attacker) had gestured at Mr Pramod Mahajan as well. But party leaders there had made Pramodji get down from the dais. It was clear that the youth had come prepared to target Pramodji and myself. This is my guess."
The assailant, identified as Munna Rai, alias Thakur Hulchul Rai, of a neighbouring village, was overpowered by BJP supporters immediately after the shot was fired. He was severely beaten up and at first taken for dead. Police took him to a hospital where doctors found him breathing, though they could barely feel his pulse. The Rohtas district magistrate said the man was in a coma and chances of his survival were very little.

By Rajesh Kumar, Section Elections in Bihar
Posted on Thu Oct 06, 2005 at 04:56:13 PM EST

"We are probing whether the assailant was mentally challenged or bore a grudge against the victim," the Zonal Inspector General of Police, Mr AS Nimbran, said.
According to an eyewitness, as soon as Mr Prasad settled into his seat after addressing the rally, a youth, brandishing a country-made revolver in each hand, climbed on to the dais and aimed the gun at Mr Chaurasia and fired. But the bullet hit Mr Prasad who started bleeding profusely. The BJP supporters immediately got hold of the assailant.
Soon after, Mr Prasad was airlifted to nearby Sasaram where he was administered first aid before being flown to Patna in a party helicopter.
The attacker, BJP leaders feel, may have wanted to do in Mr Chaurasia. "I have survived such attacks twice in the past but the state couldn't be bothered to give me security," complained Mr Chaurasia, who insisted he had been the target.
"I had just begun my speech when I heard a bang... then I saw this armed young man getting ready to shoot," Mr Mahajan said on his arrival at Patna. He said things could have been worse had the local leaders not stopped the assailant in time. Mr Mahajan said the incident exposed the deplorable law and order situation in poll-bound Bihar.
The Chief Election Commissioner, Mr BB Tandon, expressing concern over the security arrangement in the state, said: "I spoke to the chief secretary and asked the district authorities to be more alert." Condemning the attack on Mr Prasad, Bihar Governor Mr Buta Singh said he would get the incident probed, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said. Mr Singh promised additional security to Mr Prasad and to all political leaders on the campaign trail.
RJD president Mr Lalu Prasad today sought a high-level probe into the attack. "It's shocking. The politics of violence must be condemned by all quarters," he told newsmen.
The Congress condemned the attack as well. "We strongly condemn this dastardly attack on Mr Prasad and wish him a speedy recovery," said the AICC spokesman, Mr Anand Sharma in New Delhi. The party asked the administration and police to identify the persons responsible for the attack on Mr Prasad and bring them to book.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=92182

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