Man arrested for brandishing knife at Harish Rawat’s event

The man was present in the crowd gathered for the Congress event where Harish Rawat was the chief guest, said police superintendent Chandramohan Singh

The Uttarakhand Police have arrested a 45-year-old man for allegedly brandishing a knife after climbing the stage of an event of former chief minister Harish Rawat at Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district on Thursday evening.

Harish Rawat was the chief guest at the event. (ANI/File)

The man was present in the crowd gathered for the Congress event where Rawat was the chief guest, said police superintendent Chandramohan Singh. “ After Rawat’s address, the man went on to the stage brandishing the knife. But he was stopped by people present on the stage and handed over to police there.”

Singh added that the accused has been booked under the Arms Act for illegally carrying the knife.

Singh cited the initial probe and said the accused seemed to be mentally unstable. “A week ago, he (the accused) climbed on an overhead water tank in Kashipur for no reason. He also had regular altercations with his wife and visited a police station urging the police to solve their issues. A probe is on and he would be produced in a court later on Friday where, after medical examination, police would seek his treatment.”

Rawat’s spokesman Surendra Agarwal claimed that the accused raised the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan and wore a saffron scarf. “Police are probing the matter, but a conspiracy cannot be ruled out.”