A man tried to enter Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters at Fort with a double-barreled airgun in hand yesterday
He threatened to kill anybody who came in his way as he tried to enter the building that houses the bank’s governor. Security guards of Central Bank overpowered him after which he fired from his airgun. Officers from Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Crime Branch and Special Branch, along with D Sivanandan security adviser of RBI and former police commissioner of the city, interrogated the man after he was caught.
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The accused, in his late 30s, was identified as Padmagiri Raj Shekhar, who hails from Kerala. “He shouted that if anybody came in his way he would kill that person. But the security guards of RBI, GN Pharande and Bharat Wagh, nabbed him with help from other security guards. On being intercepted, Shekar fired one round in the air from his gun,” said an officer from MRA Marg police station. Various security agencies came to interrogate Shekhar, to establish his motive.u00a0
The police ruled out that he had any terrorist links. “He seems like a psychotic, who carried out the stunt for publicity. We are still interrogating him. We are also trying to find out where he got the gun from and why he chose the RBI building,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity. Alpana Kilawala, chief general manager, department of communication, RBI, told MiD DAY, “Our guards caught hold of the person and we have handed him over to the police for further investigation.”