Bengal being unnecessarily linked to Parliament security breach: Mamata

KOLKATA: West Bengal is being deliberately linked to the recent breach of security at the Parliament House to divert attention from the acute security lapses there, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Sunday.

Speaking to the reporters before leaving for New Delhi, she noted that Lalit Jha, the prime accused in the case, had no intimate connections with West Bengal.

"He had connections with Bihar and Jharkhand, but not with West Bengal. So unnecessarily the name of our state is being dragged in the matter. Even the Union Home Ministry admitted lapses in the security system in the matter. All we want is a thorough probe by an independent agency," she said in her first comments about the reported Bengal connections of Jha.

The Chief Minister also said the the opposition MPs who were vocal on the floor on this security lapse issue were suspended.

In New Delhi, Banerjee is slated to attend a meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc and on December 20, is supposed to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There are high possibilities of Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee accompanying her at the meeting.