Tech to beef up security at Vidhana Soudha: Speaker

A new technology-driven system will be installed to beef up security at the Vidhana Soudha, the High Court and Raj Bhavan, Speaker UT Khader announced in the Assembly on Monday.

This is in the aftermath of an imposter gaining entry to the Assembly hall during Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s budget presentation last week.

“It has been decided to introduce a new security system incorporating technology for the region comprising Vidhana Soudha, the High Court and the Governor’s office,” Khader said in the Assembly.

While Khader did not elaborate, the new system is in line with the government’s 2018 plan to declare the surroundings of Vidhana Soudha as a high-security zone with its own security force. The then deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, now the home minister, was pushing this plan in 2018.

Earlier in the day, Khader inspected Vidhana Soudha’s existing security protocols.

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“The Vidhana Soudha is meant for people. We don’t want to keep people away in the name of security. We want people coming to Vidhana Soudha to feel safe. People visiting Vidhana Soudha shouldn’t be inconvenienced,” Khader said, adding that an action plan will be formulated for this.

On July 7, a man named Thipperudrappa managed to enter the Assembly hall claiming to be the Molakalmuru MLA. “Preliminary inquiry by the Marshalls revealed that Thipperudrappa, 76, hails from Chitradurga. He has been handed over to the Vidhana Soudha police who have arrested him. The police department has been asked to take action as per law,” Khader said in the Assembly.

“This must be God’s warning to us all,” Khader said, requesting lawmakers and reporters to cooperate with security personnel. On Monday, security was beefed up in Vidhana Soudha where personnel were seen thoroughly vetting credentials before letting people in.

Fruit cutter inside woman’s bag

The Vidhana Soudha security staff found a fruit cutter inside the bag of a woman on Monday. The woman was a government employee. She was carrying a small knife-like cutter used to chop fruits.

The woman told police that she arrived directly from the hospital where her mother was admitted. She used the cutter to chop fruits for her mother and kept it inside the bag by mistake. “She also had a few tablets inside her bag prescribed to her mother. She was allowed to enter and work after keeping the bag at the entrance,” a police source said.

(With inputs from Chetan BC)