Criminals tried to crush Union Textile Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain under the wheel of their jeep at Ruijhansa ground in Kishanganj, Bihar, on Sunday night, police sources said.

The incident occurred when Hussain was supervising the construction of a dais from where Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is scheduled to address a public meeting on April 22, they said.

Hussain said the speeding jeep tried to hit him but he narrowly escaped. The vehicle was chased by his bodyguards, he said.

The sources said the jeep was rounded near the Kishanganj railway station but three of the armed occupants managed to flee.

The others -- Kamal Kishore Yadav and Vimal Kumar Thakur -- who were also in the jeep, were caught, they said.