2 armed BSP men held at Rahul hotel

Faizabad, UP: Two BSP workers were arrested with firearms from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's hotel in Faizabad in UP on Thursday, sending shock waves through the entire security machinery in the state.

According to reports reaching here, the two men were detained by the Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel guarding Gandhi after they were found to be carrying a revolver and a pistol on them.

The firearms were detected when they were being frisked. They were identified as PC Jatav and Sangram Jatav. Both the revolver and the pistol were licensed weapons. The arms were seized from the duo.

The two men hail from Ghaziabad and they had gone to Bikapur Assembly constituency, about 36km from Faizabad, to campaign for BSP nominee Jeetender Singh Bablu. \

The SPG personnel handed over the two men to the local police, which interrogated them.

Rahul Gandhi had checked into Krishna Palace Hotel after the day's electioneering shortly after dusk, police sources said. He was staying in the top floor of the hotel where his entourage had booked 35 rooms, the sources said.

The hotel is jointly owned by Ashok Singh, the BSP candidate from Rudauli Assembly constituency in Barabanki district, and his brother Nirankar Singh.

After the arrest, Rahul Gandhi was shifted out of the hotel and taken to the residence of Ayodhya's raja VP Mishra for the night halt.

According to district magistrate Amod Kumar, the two BSP workers had been staying in the hotel since April 27. He said both have been taken into custody by Kotwali police and interrogated.

BSP spokesman Sudhir Goel, however, said PC Jatav and Sangram Jatav were his party workers and they had not stayed in the hotel to create security problem for Rahul Gandhi

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Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi began the seventh leg of his campaign in Ballia and he was accorded a rousing reception upon his arrival in the town.

People standing along the road showered him with flower petals at various places. He mingled freely with the people after the rally, shaking hands with them.

He was accompanied by senior Congress leader Satish Sharma and UPCC President Salman Khursheed.

Security has been a major concern all along Rahul Gandhi's UP roadshow and in one instance the local administration in Moradabad had forced him to abandon a part of his programme, citing security concerns.

Rahul Gandhi has often been surrounded by cheering crowds eager to catch a glimpse of him, even shake his hand during his ongoing roadshow, raising serious concern over his security.

Travelling atop a jeep, he has been moving through narrow lanes and even narrower bylanes and has mingled freely with the people, often breaking the multiple layers of security cover provided to him.

Rahul, one of the best protected men in the country with multiple layers of security, has a body protection group that travels closest to him to ward off any attempt on his life.

There is also a security deployment group that travels 24-48 hours as an advance party, to sanitise any area Rahul visits. A local police team, headed by the DCP of the area, makes up for the outer layer of the security cover.