The Bihar government on Tuesday set up a high-level committee to probe how BJP president Amit Shah and three other party leaders got trapped in a lift at the state guest house in Patna for around 40 minutes.

The committee, headed by Shishir Sinha, principal secretary for cabinet coordination, will inquire into the incident, after some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders alleged a conspiracy behind it, an official said.

Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said he has written a letter to the union home ministry to conduct a probe into the incident.

"I have requested the home ministry that if the state government failed to inquire into it, the central government should order an inquiry," Paswan said.

The incident took place last week when Shah -- along with BJP's Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, party secretary Nagendra-ji and general secretary Saudan Singh -- was going from the ground floor to the first floor of the state guest house.

Shah was rescued by paramilitary personnel who were present there as part of his security cover. They pulled apart the steel doors of the lift to evacuate him from the stuck elevator.

IANS