NEW DELHI:
A massive security breach took place in the Parliament on Wednesday, as intruders jumped into the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery while proceedings were underway for the Winter Session following which the House was adjourned.
The incident took place at 1 pm when Rajendra Agarwal was chairing the House.
After the two men jumped from the visitor’s gallery, there was a slight commotion and the House was adjourned.
The men then kept on climbing the tables towards the Chair. However, he was caught by the security officials.
Agarwal then immediately announced the adjournment of the House till 2 p.m.
The breach in the security came on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament Attack.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other parliamentarians paid their tributes to the security personnel who died in the 2001 Parliament attack .
The breach was a meticulously-planned and coordinated operation executed by a group of six individuals who maintained communication through Instagram and other social media platforms to devise the plan, Delhi Police sources said.
“The suspects formulated the plan several days prior and conducted reconnaissance before entering Parliament on Wednesday and had selected the date of December 13 to execute their act,” a source said.
“Unified by a shared ideology, they collectively aimed to convey a message to the government. They were in touch with each other through social media site Instagram for over a year,” the source added.
Security agencies are currently investigating whether they received instructions from any individual or organisation.
The five accused arrested have been identified as Manoranjan D, a resident of Mysuru, Sagar Sharma, a resident of Lucknow, Neelam, a resident of Haryana’s Jind, Amol Shinde, a resident of Maharashtra’s Latur and Vikram a.k.a Vicky Sharma, a resident of Gurugram sector-7 and native of Hisar.
One of the accused, identified as Lalit Jha, is still absconding and police said that a manhunt has been initiated to nab him.
As per initial probe, it was also revealed that Manoranjan and Sharma had visitors’ passes for 45 minutes but they stayed in the visitors’ gallery for close to two hours.
Neelam and Shinde were protesting with coloured flares outside Parliament and were detained by Delhi Police.
GRIM REMINDER
On the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, a major security lapse took place in Lok Sabha as two unidentified men managed to enter the Lok Sabha hall from the visitors’ gallery on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s security breach brought to mind the threats made by Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on December 6 this year.
The banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Pannun had issued a threat to India through a video in which he said he would attack the Indian Parliament on or before December 13 following an alleged foiled plot to kill him.
In the video, which featured a poster of the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru with the caption ‘Delhi Banega Khalistan’ (Delhi will turn into Khalistan), Pannun said a conspiracy to kill him by the Indian agencies had failed. He asserted that he would respond by attacking the Parliament on or before December 13.
HEATED DEBATE; INDIA WALKOUT
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday highlighted the major security lapse in Lok Sabha and also demanded a statement by Home Minister Amit Shah in both the Houses.
While speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge raised the issue of security lapse in Lok Sabha and said, “The security breach that took place in Parliament today is a very serious matter. We demand that the Home Minister should come to both the Houses and give a statement on this.”
He said that this is not the issue of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the question is how two people despite a major security arrangement they breached the security.
He was intervened by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Dhankhar said, ““The moment I came to know about it, I called the Director of Security. I told him to give him an update. The update which he gave me at the point of time, I have shared with the House. It is a matter of concern but let us await details and then we will be able to reflect…”
To this, an agitated Kharge said, “Here the lives are being lost and you are asking to give time. They sprayed gas, and earlier also similar thing has happened. We have celebrated the martyr’s day today to remember the death of our security personnel.”
After a heated debate in Parliament over the massive security breach in Rajya Sabha, INDIA parties staged walkout on the issue and refusal of the Home Minister to make a statement on the matter.
In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “INDIA parties walked out of the Rajya Sabha this afternoon on the issue of the extraordinary events in the Lok Sabha today and the refusal of the Home Minister to make a statement on the matter, especially after such a huge breach of security on the very same day Parliament was attacked 22 years ago.”
The Lok Sabha has banned the entry of the Personal Assistants (PAs) of the MPs in the House, sources said.
Meanwhile, Speaker Om Birla before adjourning the House for the day dubbed the security breach as a “serious issue”. He also apprised the members that a review of the security arrangements would be done to ensure no such incident takes place in future.
Birla also said that action would be taken as per the probe report.
Birla added that what had happened “was a matter of concern for all of us and a serious issue.” He also hailed the MPs and the security marshals in the House for nabbing the two persons who had entered the main hall from the visitors’ gallery.
After making the remarks, Birla adjourned the House for the day till December 14.
The two men who were caught have been identified as Manoranjan Kumar and Sagar Sharma. Sharma has got the visitor’s pass made on the reference of BJP MP from Karnataka’s Mysuru Pratap Simha.