A security scare in the Sri Lankan parliament forced the postponement of its sessions on Thursday, a local newspaper reported Friday.

According to Daily Mirror, a bomb scare occurred after a sniffer dog picked up a scent under the seat occupied by MP Navaratna Banda who was in the back row of the House on the Opposition side.

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara told parliament that due to security reasons the parliament would meet again on Feb. 14.

Officials said the decision was taken at a party leaders meeting, convened while the parliament security and the bomb disposal unit were inspecting the inside of the chamber.

All microphones inside the chamber were switched off during the inspection for fear that they may trigger a blast.

Parliament security sources said the dog had not responded to any scent when it was brought in again after the inspection was over.

Security sources said they suspected the glue used to fasten the carpet had sulphur and it might have triggered the reaction from the sniffer dog.

Parliament was scheduled to meet both on Thursday and Friday this week.

Every morning before the house convenes, the parliament police deploys sniffer dogs to detect any explosives in the tightly guarded complex.

The opposition political party sources said the main minority Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was planning for a protest campaign inside the chamber and their planned action became a non event due to the postponement.

The TNA disrupted the January sessions of the assembly carrying out noisy protest action for three consecutive days forcing suspension of the assembly on each occasion.

The Tamil party was blaming the government for its failure to stabilize the deteriorating security situation in the Northern and Eastern provinces plagued by decades old ethnic separatist armed conflict.

Source: Xinhua