Bihar Excise minister Shivanand Tiwari escaped unhurt when a mob at a book fair in Patna attacked him after he allegedly made uncharitable remarks about D P Ojha who was unceremoniously removed as the state police chief on Saturday.

The mob started throwing slippers and brickbats, and chased Tiwari who was hurriedly escorted by his security detail to a small cabin at the fair, official sources said.

The angry mob damaged a few parked vehicles.

Tiwari was confined to the cabin for two hours. The police resorted to a lathi-charge in an attempt to free the minister.

Union Minister Sanjay Paswan, who was also visiting the fair, came to Tiwari's rescue when he learnt of his predicament. He escorted Tiwari to the safety of his own car through the rear entrance.

The fair was abruptly closed for the day after the incident.

Earlier, Tiwari had arrived at the fair along with former Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ramvilas Paswan, state BJP chief Gopal Narain Singh and state Congress president Ram Jatan Sinha for an interactive session organised by the daily, Hindustan Times.

Tiwari was in the vanguard of the campaign to remove Ojha from the post of Bihar DGP and had on Friday orchestrated a move by members of the Rabri Devi cabinet to oust the officer.

On Saturday, he angered the assembled people by making some 'uncharitable remarks' against the ousted DGP. The other leaders had, however, left the venue by then.

Tiwari was not immediately available for comment.