Parliament Security: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has been deployed for frisking of visitors and baggae in the new Parliament building months after the security breach incident.
A contingent of 140 CISF personnel has been deployed at the Parliament complex as part of the new measure to frisk the visitors and their baggage from the Budget Session that commences from January 31, official sources said.
The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned the strength after a comprehensive security review of the facility was undertaken in the wake of a breach by a few people, who entered the Parliament hall filled with MPs and sprayed coloured smoke canisters on December 13 last year.
The development has come months after the security breach incident in the new Parliament building when two people, who were present in the visitors' complex of the Lok Sabha chamber jumped into the MPs premises and created ruckus. They jumped on benches, sprayed yellow-coloured gas and shouted slogans.
A similar scene was witnessed outside the Parliament building where two other people demonstrated in a similar way. A total of six people were arrested in the entire incident and an investigation in the case is underway. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident.
A few days ago, all the accused in the security breach incident were taken to the Parliament to recreate the scene.
Post that incident, the Opposition cornered the government during the winter session and demanded a reply from PM Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach at the new Parliament complex.
Meanwhile, the contingent is undertaking familiarisation of the Parliament complex along with the other security agencies already present there so that they are ready for the task from January 31 when the Budget Session commences, they said.
The CISF will render access control to the new and old Parliament building in a airport-security like fashion where body frisking of the persons and their belongings will be done through x-ray machines, hand-held detectors with a provision to even scan shoes, heavy jackets and belts by putting them on a tray and passing them through the x-ray scanner, sources said.
The about 1.70 lakh personnel strong CISF is a central armed police force (CAPF) under the Union home ministry and it guards 68 civil airports of the country apart from vital installations in the aerospace and nuclear energy domain.
Sources had earlier told PTI that both the new and the old Parliament complex and their allied buildings will be brought under a comprehensive security cover of the CISF which will also have the existing elements of Parliament Security Service (PSS), the Delhi Police and the Parliament Duty Group (PDG) of the CRPF.
With inputs from PTI
More to follow...
