Congressman with loaded gun nabbed at Sonia function

Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, Apr 5 (UNI) Minutes before the arrival of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to attend a farmers' rally here, police detained a Congressman for attempting to enter the venue with a fully loaded pistol.

Police said the man, identified as Siva Shanmughavel from Thiruthuraipoondi in Thanjavur district, was detained while passing through the metal detector installed at the entrance of the Alaggappa Matriculation Higher Secondary School, the venue of the rally.

Later, the Congress activist said to be in his 50s was taken to a nearby security room for interrogation.

The pistol was found concealed in a plastic bag.

Senior police officials from Intellegence Bureau and Tamil Nadu Special Intellegence Units rushed to the spot and were interrogating the activist.

Refusing to divulge more details, a police official told UNI that the pistol was fully loaded.

However, another official said, ''the pistol is not original but only a toy.'' UNI GSM AJ LPB HT1642