A mentally unstable youth breached the security system at the Government Secretariat here on Wednesday, sneaked into the chamber of chief minister Oommen Chandy, sat on his chair and summoned a minister on the intercom, finally declaring that he was the Prime Minister.
Most of those who heard or witnessed the incident on the 24x7 webcast laughed, but not the cops, who were alarmed at loopholes in the security system of the Secretariat, the nerve centre of the state administration.
The youth, Challa Chandra Jose, 34, entered Mr Chandy’s chamber as the ministers were getting ready for the weekly Cabinet meeting.
“(Ministers) K. Babu and K.P. Mohanan were first to enter the chamber to see the man sitting there and talking on my phone. He told me he’s the Prime Minister of India, making it clear what his problem was,” Mr Chandy told reporters here after the incident.
“I told my staff not to harm him and let him free.”
Mr Babu, the ports minister, had reached the office on the “chief minister’s” summons on the intercom when he saw the young man on the CM’s seat.
Challa arrived in the CMO to track a petition that he had submitted to Mr Chandy earlier, demanding replacement of all the statues in the city with that of Lord Padmanabha, the presiding deity of the city.
The man told the police that he was a marathon runner and was upset at the television channel repeatedly denying him a chance to participate in music reality shows.
“We have not arrested him but registered a case of trespassing,” said a police officer. “We have also informed his relatives in a village, some 25 km away from here .”
Mr Chandy, who famously prefers to be seen always in the middle of a crowd, had earlier let go of the “Z” category security cover provided to his predecessor V.S. Achuthanandan.