NEW DELHI, April 26 - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh escaped a shoe attack while delivering a speech in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat this afternoon. The shoe did not hit the prime minister but fell several metres away from the podium.
The prime minister's security personnel overpowered the miscreant who was taken to a nearby police station for questioning. The suspect was identified as a 28-year-old computer engineering student from Bapunagar in Ahmedabad.
Local Indian television channels said the incident happened when Manmohan was delivering a speech at a political rally and touched on unemployment in the diamond industry in Gujarat.
At least, 400,000 workers in Gujarat's diamond and polishing industry have lost their jobs since the economic crisis began last year.
The episode created chaos among the crowd but the cool prime minister continued his speech. Manmohan became the second minister to suffer a shoe attack.
Earlier this month, a journalist hurled a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram but narrowly missed him.
Flinging shoes has become a trend after an Iraqi journalist hurled a boot at former United States president George W. Bush last year. - Bernama
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