M K Stalin, the Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister and son of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, today escaped a bid on his life when a knife-wielding man was accosted by a CRPF jawan, part of the minister’s security, at the Madurai station, the Madurai Railway police said. But the man apparently disappeared into the crowd, leaving his knife behind with the jawan, who tried to wrest it from him, suffering minor injuries in his hand in the process.According to reports reaching here, the incident took place early this morning when Stalin got off the Pandian Express train, which arrived in Madurai from Chennai, and was received by a large gathering of DMK workers. The CRPF jawan, Suresh Pandey, said he noticed a man, aged about 45, standing close-by with a knife in his hand and pounced on him.The alleged assailant, however, left the knife behind in Pandey’s hand, and vanished into the crowd. In the tussle, Pandey sustained injuries, Madurai Railway Police Inspector, A Venkitachalam, investigating the incident based on a complaint by the jawan, told reporters in Madurai. It was also not known whether the man was carrying the knife for ‘‘some other purpose’’, the police said, adding that Stalin learnt of the incident that occurred behind him only later.
