Constable Suspended for 'Pointing' Rifle at Kamal Nath, Says Was 'Just Shifting It'

Chhindwara: Panic spread at Chhindwara airstrip on Friday evening as a police constable pointed a loaded rifle at senior Congress leader Kamal Nath. The cop was however overpowered by his colleagues and later put under suspension by senior officers.

The former Union minister, Kamal Nath, who enjoys a Z category security coverage, reached the Chhindwara airstrip around 3.45 pm on Friday and after addressing four public meetings, the Chhindwara MP landed at the airstrip in a chopper while his security men from CRPF were boarding a car.

According to an official, four police personnel were deployed to secure Nath’s chartered plane and the constable was one of them.

As the leader was about to board the plane for Delhi, policemen saw one of their colleagues, Ratnesh Pawar training his loaded rifle at Nath and they quickly caught hold of him and took him out of the scene.

Chhindwara DIG GK Pathak later said that the constable has been put under suspension and a probe has been ordered against him.

Kamal Nath too reacted on the incident and said, "An inquiry has been ordered."

Police are also looking at his mental health as he would be presented before a medical board on Saturday. Pawar, according to sources, told the investigators that he was just trying to shift his rifle from one shoulder to the other.

Meanwhile, the Congress is in no mood to let this security lapse go easily as party leaders have reacted strongly to the incident and would hand over a memorandum to Chhindwara administration for a high-level probe later.

“Is this politics of hatred? This should be condemned in strongest terms,” Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said in a tweet in which he narrated the incident. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh also sought a high-level probe into the incident saying a mere suspension was not sufficient.