Home Secretary H C Sirohi said in Patna that the assailant who shot at former Information and Broadcasting minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad was actually targeting Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia who, upon sighting the gunman had ducked and the bullet hit Prasad in the arm but he was "out of danger".

Chaurasia, one of the petitioners who have challenged the dissolution of the state assembly on which the Supreme Court had reserved its order, then caught hold of the gunman and snatched one of his pistols after which the crowd pounced on the assailant and beat him unconscious.

Asked if naxalites were suspected behind the attack, Sirohi said though the area was affected by ultra-left violence, only a detailed investigation would bring out the truth.

When contacted, Mahajan said he too noticed the gunman coming fromSirohi behind, but he was pushed to the ground by partymen present on the dais. He said since Sasaram was only a few kilometres from the incident-site he decided to take Prasad there instead of Patna and admitted him to a clinic.

"Prasad's shirt and trouser were full of blood, but thank god he is now out of danger," he said. Chaurasia had recently filed a complaint with the police alleging that an attempt was made on his life by his opponents in Sasaram, headquarters of Rohtas district, on September 25.

In the complaint, he had alleged that unidentified persons opposed to his petition in the apex court against the dissolution of the house, had attempted to eliminate him by attacking his vehicle near the Mufassil police station. He had demanded that the state administration take effective steps and provide security for him and his family.