NEW DELHI: Three pranksters were arrested on Friday for breaching security by driving into Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residential compound, police said. Two air hostesses and a man, who said they were ‘playing a joke’, were arrested on charges of criminal trespass and impersonation.

One of the women was said to have told security guards she was the prime minister’s niece.

The trio, in their 20s, created a huge stir late on Thursday as they rode a luxury car past the first security cordon into the sprawling complex in view of television crews who were outside to cover a cabinet meeting.

When turned away at the next security check, the woman at the wheel blew kisses at TV cameras and her companions smiled. The car was stopped a short distance and questioned by TV reporters.

Newspapers said the three pranksters were drunk.

The women said they just wanted to meet the prime minister and had thought they could seek an appointment with him at the gate.

Air Sahara sacked the two air hostesses after the prank was shown repeatedly on television.

Prime Minister Singh is on the hit list of many militant groups fighting Indian rule in occupied Kashmir and the northeast.

—AFP