January 31, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 27, 1423

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: A motorcyclist drove into the way of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s motorcade on Thursday but was overpowered before the premier’s bullet-proof car approached the rider, police said.

The incident occurred within 48 hours of a similar security breach by a private car that prompted Vajpayee’s commandos to open fire on the three occupants, including one woman.

Thursday’s incident occurred when Mr Vajpayee’s motorcade was moving towards the mausoleum of Mahatma Gandhi and the bike zoomed into its way, a senior police official said.

Vajpayee, 78, and President Abdul Kalam visited Gandhi’s cremation site to pay homage on the 55th anniversary of his assassination by a Hindu fanatic.

“There were two separate motorcades and the constable on duty allowed this motorcyclist to pass when he saw one motorcade leaving Rajghat. He did not know the PM’s convoy was arriving from the opposite direction,” Pereira said.

“The approaching security car saw the biker and stopped him in time to allow the prime minister’s motorcade to speed through,” the official said, ruling out any involvement of militants in the bizarre fracas.

“The poor fellow (biker) is quite innocent,” he said, as the incident fuelled a fresh debate for closer coordination among national security agencies protecting Indian leaders on the roads.

“It may be a cock-up but what if it was for real?” asked a top anti-terrorism police official. “It is also quite embarrassing.”

Police identified the detained intruder as Anil Tyagi and said he was a brother of a top Delhi-based revenue bureaucrat, who himself has police protection.—AFP