A 53-year-old man carrying a ‘surgical blade’ was arrested from a five-star hotel in New Delhi where US Secretary of State John Kerry is staying.
Uday Ratra, a resident of Gurdaspur in Punjab, was picked up by the police from the Leela Palace hotel on Wednesday night.
Ratra was loitering in the lobby of the hotel when he was asked by the hotel staff to leave the place.
An angry Ratra started quarrelling with the hotel security staff which forced them to inform Sarojini Nagar police station.
The police rushed to the spot and booked him under under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt).
Later on, the police said that the man was "mentally unstable".
"He is mentally unstable. He was roaming around in the lobby of the hotel. The hotel security staff knew him as in the past too he had tried to enter the premises when foreign dignitaries were visiting," a senior police official said.
The official further said that the man was not aware of John Kerry’s presence in the hotel and that he has a history of creating nuisance when foreign dignitaries are here.
"He was not aware of Kerry's presence. It is a coincidence that he came to the hotel on the day. When he was searched, a blade was found on him," added the official.
"Even the US Embassy had informed us in advance on August 1 that he might create nuisance. The Canadian Embassy had also written about him once," the official added.
The police also revealed that Ratra has been arrested in the past on similar charges and that he was deported from the UK for allegedly stalking some residents there.
John Kerry yesterday postponed his departure from India by at least two days.
He was on a three-day visit to India but, according to US officials, Kerry’s India stay has been extended so that he could travel to China for G-20 Summit this weekend.
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