Man shot while trying to enter Hindon IAF base

A man was shot and wounded by security personnel when he tried to slip into the high-security Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Hindon here in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Wednesday.

Interrogated by police and IAF officers, the man, identified as 25-year-old Sujeet from Delhi, claimed he wanted to fly to Saudi Arabia in search of work. He was preparing "to take a ride" on one of the planes at the air base, he said.

Police sources said the man seemed to be on drugs and at one point insisted he only wanted to take a meal.

"There are variations in his statement," a police source said.

Sujeet, a resident of Anand Vihar in east Delhi, has been admitted to a medical facility at the air base in Sahibabad and is being interrogated by IAF and police officers.

Officials said he was seen lurking around the air base at around 10.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Sujeet first examined an IAF jet installed outside the base. He then tried to enter the complex through Gate 1.

When the security personnel stopped him, he started scaling the boundary wall and refused to give up despite several warnings.

The security personnel then shot at below Sujeet's knee. Rendered immobile, he was taken into custody.

A senior official told IANS that the accused originally hailed from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

"His mobile phone is being screened. Call details are being fetched. A police team is being sent to Pratapgarh to get more details," said Assistant Superintendent of Police Anoop Singh.

Superintendent of Police Aakash Tomar said security has been beefed up and additional forces were deployed in the peripheral areas of the Hindon air base.

The incident assumes significance as intelligence agencies had reportedly tipped off the IAF on Sunday that LeT terrorists might try and sneak into the Hindon air base and mount a Pathankot-style attack.

--IANS

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