Man breaks security cordon for PM Modi; hands him Tagore portrait

In a major security breach, a man broke the safety cordon for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give him a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore at the Visva Bharati convocation today.

When Modi was leaving the dias after declaring the convocation closed, the man suddenly went up the platform to give him the portrait. The prime minister took the portrait and handed it over to his security personnel.

SPG personnel caught the man and removed him from the dais.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had left the dais by then.

Multi-layer security arrangements had been put in place in Santiniketan in view of the visit by the dignitaries, which included West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi.

When contacted, officiating Visva Bharati Vice-Chancellor Sabujkali Sen told PTI "I have seen the incident, I was present on the dias then. I don't know the person." The police said the incident is being probed.