By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa assembly was forced to suspend its proceedings Thursday after a stray snake was spotted by the staff inside the house. But the reptile, believed to be a king cobra, couldn’t be found despite hours of search by security personnel, officials and a sniffer dog.
The snake was noticed around 8 a.m. near the house reporters’ table by some of the assembly staff during routine cleaning. The reptile sneaked into the table of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and disappeared, officials said.
Snake catchers, security personnel, forest officials and a sniffer dog were pressed into service to locate the reptile. As it could not be found, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat initially adjourned the house for one hour to facilitate the search operation.
The house was later adjourned several times during the day while the search for the futile turned intense. The speaker finally adjourned the house for the day at 4.30 p.m.
Amat said the house will resume its normal business Friday. To remove the legislators’ fear, the carpet flooring would be removed, thoroughly checked and disinfected, he told reporters.
As there was no business in the house, the chief minister organised a sightseeing programme for the new members.
The new members were taken to various parks located in the state capital and hosted to delicious Oriya cuisines by state tourism department.