The Congress has claimed “grave” security threat to party chief Rahul Gandhi and urged Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take immediate action to ensure full protection of its leader.
In a letter, three Congress leaders said that a laser was pointed at Gandhi during his interaction with journalists after filing nomination for the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday.
“A perusal of his media interaction will reflect that a laser (green) was pointed at his head, intermittently on at least 7 separate occasions in a short period; including twice at his temple on the right side of the head,” the letter, signed by Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Singh Surjewala, said.
The Congress requested the home minister investigate the matter and ensure full protection for Gandhi, a Special Protection Group (SPG) protectee.
The letter also reminded the assassination of former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi, according to The Hindu.
Meanwhile, NDTV reported that the home ministry has denied receiving any letter. The ministry, however, said the SPG chief, after going through the video clipping, remarked that the matter had “no security implication whatsoever’.
“The ‘green light’ shown in the clipping was found to be that of a mobile phone used by the AICC photographer, who was videographing the impromptu press interaction of Shri Rahul Gandhi near the collectorate at Amethi,” the ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
(With PTI inputs)