The Speaker livid about the suspected and widely reported militant link of a parliament secretariat security official asked the state minister for home affairs yesterday to form a counter-intelligence agency commissioned to watch over the activities of security peon the parliament premises.

To make for a foolproof security of the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) complex, besides stricter vigilance, from now it will be a lot more troublesome and tough to obtain a visitor's pass to enter the JS building.

Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar yesterday phoned State Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar and demanded of to introduce a counter intelligence agency for the JS secretariat to monitor all activities of all including its own security men.

"The state minister for home assured me to deploy counterintelligence forces," Sircar told reporters at his office. However, Babar told him that it was the parliament secretariat's responsibility to monitor the overall security measures."

On the arrest of a JS secretariat security official last week in connection to militancy, the Speaker said he knows nothing about the arrestee, whether he was involved or not with any subversive activities. "It may be," Sircar said, "he is waiting for a fortunate moment to do the thing."

Later yesterday, the Speaker also sat in meetings with the chief whip, whips and some chiefs of parliamentary bodies and decided to relocate the Public Works Department office, branch of a bank and a medical centre from the JS building to MP hostel premises.

Sircar said he will soon issue letters to 345 lawmakers seeking their cooperation to ensure the security of the parliament building. "From now on visitors of the lawmakers will have to obtain pass from officials of deputy secretary rank in the parliament secretariat," the speaker said.rsonnel