In an unprecedented security breach, a 72-year-old lawyer managed to enter the Karnataka Assembly hall and even sat on an MLA's chair during Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's budget presentation on Friday.
The police identified the man as Thipperudrappa. Apparently, he had come to the Vidhana Soudha to meet a government secretary.
Gurmitkal JD(S) MLA Sharana Gowda Kandakur was the first to raise a flag when he saw Thipperudrappa. The man took a seat that was reserved for Devadurga JD(S) MLA Karemma.
"Since I hadn't seen that person in the House, I asked (Hunsur) MLA Harish Gowda who it was. Gowda, too, said he hadn't seen him before. I grew suspicious and informed the Marshal. It turned out that the person told the Marshall that he's the Molkalmuru MLA. My suspicion was triggered further because the Molkalmuru MLA (NY Gopalakrishna of the Congress) is a senior person known to everybody in the House," Kandakur said.
Even as Kandakur sent word to the Assembly secretary, Thipperudrappa proceeded towards the treasury benches and greeted Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
"I was shocked. Perhaps the Deputy CM was engrossed in the budget and did not realise that it was not an MLA who greeted him," Kandakur said.
Finally, the man's cover was blown and was sent out.
Speaker UT Khader has sought a detailed report on the security lapse. Marshalls are learnt to have said that they are yet to get acquainted with all MLAs since 70 of them are first-timers. Also, many people enter the Assembly lounge claiming to be personal secretaries of MLAs, the Marshalls said.
According to Kandakur, the man was present in the House for 15 minutes. However, DCP (Central) R Srinivas Gowda said Thipperudrappa was there for about five minutes.
As per the rules, the security personnel entered Thipperudrappa's details into the visitors' register and gave him an entry pass.
According to the DCP, anyone visiting the Assembly gallery needs a second set of permissions. Since Thipperudrappa didn't have this permission, he was stopped by security personnel. He created a fuss saying he was an MLA and forced his way in.
A police source admitted that security personnel were stumped after Thipperudrappa, who is said to be a native of Chitradurga, claimed to be an MLA. "When somebody confidently says he's an MLA, how can you check his credentials?" the source said.