Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday became the latest target of a shoe attack during the current election campaign when a computer engineering student hurled a sneaker at him but it fell short of the dais from where he was addressing his first poll rally in Gujarat.
Shortly after the incident at the Tagore hall ground here put the Special Protection Group (SPG) and other security personnel in a tizzy, Singh did not want the police to register any case against the shoe thrower identified as Hitesh Chauhan, a 21-year-old resident of Bapunagar.
Singh spoke to Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Shaktisingh Govil and told him to communicate to the police not to press any charge against Chauhan who was quickly whisked away by the security personnel from the ground for questioning by the crime branch.
Chauhan was sitting on the front row and took out his shoe and was about to hurl it in the direction of Singh who had just started his speech when security personnel grabbed him.
The shoe fell a few feet away from where Singh was seated. The distance between the security railing and the stage where the Singh was seated on the dais was about 30 ft.
Singh continued with his speech before proceeding to attend another rally.