Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar on Sunday, 27 March, was attacked by a man in his hometown Bakhtiyarpur. The man has since been arrested and is currently in police custody.
As per a report by the Hindustan Times, Patna senior superintendent of police MS Dhillon indicated that prima facie the accused appears to be specially abled, saying that "an FIR will be lodged after proper interrogation and investigation."
The attack was caught on CCTV camera and mobile phones and has gone viral on social media.
The attack occurred when the CM was paying his respects to a statue of Shilbhadra Yaji, a noted freedom fighter from Bihar, at a local Safar hospital complex.
In the footage, the man could be seen walking up the stairs behind Kumar – who had bent down to make a floral offering to the statue – and struck him on the back.
The man was immediately apprehended by the CM's security personnel and later by police officials.
When the attacker was caught by security personnel, Kumar said, according to NDTV: "Do not beat him. First, find out what he is saying."
Other videos showed the man being escorted away by the police.
Kumar had last faced an attack in November 2020 when he was campaigning in Madhubani for the state elections.
Kumar was talking about jobs at a rally in Harlakhi when the crowd hurled onions at him. "Khub feko, khub feko, khube feko (keep throwing)," the angry chief minister had said.
However, when the attacker was caught by security personnel, he said: "Let him go, don't pay any attention to him."
Major Security Lapse: Tej Pratap Yadav
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tej Pratap Yadav called the incident a major security lapse.
"CM is not safe, it's a major security lapse. Anyone comes and attacks the CM. Action should be taken against DGP for not arresting the culprits," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
(With inputs from NDTV, ANI and Hindustan Times.)
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