PTI 

       
ALMORA, Feb 18: A man carrying a country-made pistol was arrested shortly before an election rally by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday, prompting police in Uttarakhand to sound a red alert in the state.

Kedar Singh was arrested while trying to sneak into the venue of the rally in the hilly township just before Gandhi addressed the gathering at about noon, Almora's Superintendent of Police Satish Kumar Shukla said.

A red alert was sounded across Uttarakhand, particularly in Haldwani and Dehra Dun where Gandhi is to address rallies during the last leg of her campaign to drum up support for the state's ruling Congress ahead of assembly polls later this month.

Shukla said Singh was being interrogated. Initial reports said Singh had identified himself as a resident of nearby Bageshwar district.

"We are verifying reports regarding his identity," Shukla said.

Security around the venues for other rallies to be addressed by Gandhi was tightened with dog squads and anti-terrorist squads being deployed there.

Sources said no changes had been made in Gandhi's itinerary following the incident.