The entry of visitors in the Parliament has been suspended untill further notice after Wednesday’s security breach that saw two men firing smoke pistols in the Lok Sabha. Two associates of theirs were raising slogans against ‘dictathorship’ outside.
According to sources, the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs for a review of security and decided to suspend the issuance of visitor permits until further orders.
The intruders in today’s incident jumped from the visitor’s gallery, which was open. Now, the gallery will be sealed with a glass wall.
Also, Speaker Om Birla has taken charge of the matter related to issuing passes to personal assistants of MPs, sources said.
Overall security protocols have also been revamped and now there will be separate entrances for MPs and visitors.
The intruders bypassed a four-tier security layer to gain access with smoke pistols. Now full body scanners will be installed to avoid such incidents in the future.
Moreover, the Parliament has also increased the number of security personnel inside the House.
What happened in the Parliament today?
Two men – Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan – managed to enter Parliament using passes issued from the office of BJP MP Pratap Simha.
During the Zero Hour, the men jumped from the visitor’s gallery and fired smoke pistols that emitted yellow smoke. They also raised slogans against ‘dictatorship’ till overpowered by some of the MPs.
At the same time, two of their associates – Neelam and Amol Shinde – fired the yellow smoke canisters outside the Parliament building and were subsequently detained by Delhi Police.
As the police carried them away, the woman protester shouted “Tanashahi Nahi Chalegi, Mahilaon Par Atyachar Nahi Chalega; Bharat Mata Ki Jai”.
She was also heard yelling at the cameras that they are just students and are raising their voices against unemployment and dictatorship.