Security has been stepped up inside and around the Parliament premises and the surrounding areas on Thursday in the wake of yesterday’s incident in which two intruders stormed into the main chamber of the Lok Sabha from the visitor’s gallery breaching security.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court sent the four accused involved in the vandalism and causing panic by releasing gas from the canister they were carrying in the Lower House to seven-day police custody.
Among the accused, Sagar Sharma from Lucknow, and Manoranjan D, who jumped into the Lok Sabha hall, were nabbed overpowered by the MPs present there while Neelam, who is from Haryana, was held from outside the Parliament complex near the Transport Bhawan along with her associate Amol Shinde.
Investigation in the case has been revealed that they used social media platforms to hatch the conspiracy to storm parliament together in a bid to be heard. However, they are suspected to have been acting at the behest of someone.
One more suspect connected to this incident, Lalit Jha, is still at large. The police are on a hunt to trace him out.
The Delhi police special cell has taken up the investigation into the case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in this regard.
A high-level probe into the security breach was ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday on the request from Lok Sabha Secretariat. An inquiry committee has been set up under Director General Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Anish Dayal Singh, comprising members from other security agencies and experts.
The MHA said that the committee would investigate the reasons for breach in security, and identify the lapses and recommend action.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha Secretariat suspended eight security personnel over the security breach. “These are security personnel belonging to different security agencies who have been suspended by authorities concerned,” the sources said.
The suspended security personnel are identified as Rampal, Arvind, Vir Das, Ganesh, Anil, Pardeep, Vimitt and Narender.
Roads leading to the Parliament building and surrounding areas in the Lutyens Delhi had police pickets and an enhanced number of patrolling vehicles.
An increased number of security personnel were visible outside the Parliament complex while police vehicles were present outside all the gates of the complex.
Internal security review has also taken place reportedly and the premises were scanned by the security personnel following the incident on Wednesday.
Though the incident was not as severe as what happened in 2001, it is being seen as a major lapse and the Opposition MPs have raised concerns over the same.