Police on Saturday arrested a man for throwing a corn cob at Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane at a public function in Pokhara.

Former home minister Lamichhane was addressing a crowd in Amar Singh Chowk when a corn cob was hurled at him in an attempted attack by Lamjung local Santosh Ranabhat, police said.

Police have detained Ranabhat for further investigation.

After the attack, Lamichhane said he “wouldn’t take the man’s anger otherwise.” He added he would take the incident as a lesson and see it as a manifestation of public anger against bad governance. Lamichhane also requested the attendants not to misbehave with the man for his act. “I will keep this corn cob safely in a frame at my home,” he said.

The attempted attack against Lamichhane comes on the heels of another similar incident when CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli was manhandled by a man in Dhankuta on December 14. A local named Mahesh Rai had attempted to attack Oli as the former prime minister walked through a crowd of his party’s supporters in Mahalaxmi Municipality-5 of Dhankuta. However, security personnel and youths associated with the party promptly held the man and Oli remained unscathed.