Former Haryana police chief S P S Rathore, convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, was stabbed thrice in the face by a youth wielding a pen-knife outside a court here yesterday.

An injured Rathore, however, returned in a few hours for the post-lunch session of the first day of the three-day continuous closed door hearing that started yesterday to appeal against his conviction.

The Chandigarh police arrested the 29-year-old Utsav Sharma, who attacked Rathore as stepped out of the court complex and was headed towards his car.

Sharma, posing as a freelance journalist, caught Rathore by the neck and in a split second stabbed him thrice. His wife and counsel Abha Rathore was with him at the time.

Police said the young man “seemed to be mentally unstable” and was living in the nearby Panchkula town for about a month.

“We have spoken to his family in Varanasi and to his doctor in Ahmedabad who was treating him for a psychological problem. He suffers from mood disorder syndrome,” the police said.

“There does not seem to be any motive behind the attack. He seemed angry and got a feeling that justice has not been done to this girl (Ruchika) and he carried out the attack under psychological imbalance,” the police added.