Patna: After the last week's shoe hurling incident, security was on Monday tightened at "Janata ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri" - the public interaction programme of Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi with petitioners being thoroughly frisked after asking them to take out their shoes.
Petitioners were subjected to intense frisking after asking them to put off their shoes.
A metal detector was installed around 10 metre from CM's table from where people were allowed to go one by one to narrate their woes.
Two more wooden tables were added to one earlier in front of the CM to keep the applicant at a distance for security purposes. Officials held applicant and safely handed them to service agents to take them to concerned officials for redressal of their problems.
Cameramen captured picture of security personnel even removing crutches of physically handicapped at the time of CM's visit to them at a demarcated place at the venue in One Anne marg residence of the CM.
A senior official requesting anonymity told reporters this has been done in the wake of shoe hurling incident last Monday.
A youth of Chapra Amritosh had hurled shoe at Manjhi at the programme on January 5 complaining his problem regarding police implicating him in a false case was not redressed.
The youth was taken away from the venue and formally arrested and send to jail on charge of creating obstruction for officials in discharge of their duty.
Deo Narayan hailing from Patna district told PTI it was harassment of petitioners in the name of security.
"Security personnel kept us standing for more than two hours almost 200 metre away from the venue to check our complaint papers. Than we were asked to take out warm clothes and shoes in this cold at the entrance gate," he said.
Mahendra Ram, hailing from Sitamarhi echoed similar views.
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan lamented inconvenience caused to people at "Janata ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri" programme and asked Manjhi should either to run it effectively or close it.
"Complaints of people who come from different parts of the state are put in sacks instead of acting on them at interaction programme started by Nitish Kumar as a show piece," Paswan told reporters here.
"Angered by denial of justice people create scene frequently at the CM interaction programme," the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief said.
