The man who tried to immolate himself was caught just when he was about to light a match-stick. He was carrying a mineral water bottle half filled with kerosene.

“This has made us look into the security cordon given to the CM’s office. We have initiated an inquiry and will now have to take measures to ensure that liquid in any form, in any and every bottle, is checked,” said Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan Gafoor. “We will ensure that the measures are discussed and implemented once the monsoon session is over.”

He admitted that security levels at Mantralaya had been lowered in the evening as the CM and the Deputy CM were not in their chambers. “They were attending the session,” Gafoor said.

“The inquiry is now on to check on the levels of security breached. The initial investigation reveals that he was checked three times by three different officers at three different levels. No action was taken on the inflammable liquid as it was tucked inside his underpants. It is also not a crime to carry a match box as there are many who smoke and carry lighters on them,” said Gafoor.

He added: “We are going to take action on the liquid front. We do not want to give a message that anyone can enter with any such inflammable liquid. This also is tricky as he had it in his underpants, so we need to now discuss on what measures to take as it is a very sensitive subject.”

Gafoor added that at this stage there are only two major security checks—for metallic weapons and detonators. On a daily basis there are around 5,000 entries registered taken from all the four main gates to Mantralaya.