He was recently released from jail, and was back to pursuing his peculiar obsession around 2 a.m. today. Ballab had already chipped away two corners of the marble-topped memorial with a hammer, before he was caught by some security personnel and handed over to the local police.

It was later found that Ballab had entered the samadhi by scaling the boundary wall separating Raj Ghat and Kisan Ghat. Four security personnel employed by the Gandhi Memorial Management were on duty at the time, but failed to spot Ballab as they were near the main gate which is more than 100 metres from the samadhi.

It was when they heard some noises coming from the direction of the memorial that they went to check. They found Ballab slamming a heavy hammer on the samadhi. He was also carrying a sickle, and had already smashed the glass canopy over the jyoti.

Ballab reportedly threatened the security guards with his sickle when they tried to tried to stop him. Even as Ballab tried to flee, one of the security guards raised an alarm alerting two motorcycle-borne policemen in the vicinity.

The policeman overpowered Ballab, and booked him under Sections 427 (causing damage to public property) and 506 (threatening public servants on duty) of the Indian Penal Code as well as under the Ancient Monument Act.

Ballab had been arrested in 1995 and in December 1997 for similar offences, though in 1995 he could not do much damage to the samadhi.

After the 1997 incident, when he smashed the glass canopy over the jyoti, Ballab was sent to jail for six-and-a-half months. He was released on June 26 this year.

Senior central district police officials describe Ballab as a vagabond. ``He does not do anything for a living. Whenever he is not in jail, he manages his food by visiting gurudwaras and temples,'' said an official.

Though it is yet to be established if Ballab actually suffers from a psychiatric disorder, the police say there his statements are certainly incoherent.