Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said a high-level inquiry committee has been constituted for an in-depth probe of Parliament security breach incident.

In a letter to all Members of Parliament (MPs), the Lok Sabha Speaker said the unfortunate incident that took place inside the House on 13 December, 2023 is “a matter of grave concern for all of us”.

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“We expressed our collective concern over this incident in the House. On the same day, I discussed with the leaders of all parties as to how we can further strengthen the security arrangements in Parliament. Some of the important suggestions made during the meeting have been implemented immediately,” he said.

“A high-level Inquiry Committee has been constituted for an in-depth investigation of the incident that took place inside the House. The Committee has started working. The report of this Committee will soon be shared with the House,” Birla said.

“In addition, I have also constituted a High Powered Committee which will review various aspects of security in the Parliament Complex and formulate a concrete action plan to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” he said.

Birla also clarified that there was “no association” between the recent suspension of 13 Lok Sabha Members from the Lower House and Parliament security breach incident which took place on Wednesday.

“It is indeed unfortunate that some Members and political parties are linking the decision of the House to suspend some Members from the service of the House to the incident which occurred on 13th December, 2023. This is unwarranted. There is no association between the suspension of Members and the incident which took place on 13 December, 2023,” the Lok Sabha Speaker said.

He said the suspension of Members was purely to uphold the sanctity of the House.

Meanwhile, the Patiala House Court here on Saturday granted seven-day custody of Mahesh Kumawat, the sixth accused in the Parliament security breach case, to the Police.

Delhi Police sought 15 days of custodial remand of accused Mahesh Kumawat. He is the sixth accused arrested in the case.

Police claimed, “he along with others wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their unjust and illegal demands”.

According to the Police, Mahesh was associated with the other accused for the last 2 years. He was part of the conspiracy. He attended almost all the meetings held between them. He is actively involved in the act of destruction of a mobile phone and evidence with the key accused Lalit Jha.

Lalit Jha, the fifth accused and mastermind in Parliament security breach case, has burnt the mobile phones of his associates along with his friend Mahesh after fleeing to Rajasthan’s Kuchaman, said police sources.

Ahead of the incident, all four accused had handed over their mobile phones to Jha so that crucial investigation details could not get into police hands as they were anticipating their arrest.

Jha met his friend Mahesh, who got him a room for the night. Both of them had met through Facebook, as revealed by Jha during his interrogation.

The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack. Two people–Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D–jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted anti-establishment slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.

Outside it, in another incident, two protestors — Neelam (42) and Amol (25) — protested outside the Parliament with similar gas canisters. However, all four were sent to seven-day custody of Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday.