In the Parliament House security lapse case, 4 major actions have been taken by the government so far
A security breach unfolded in the Lok Sabha as an unidentified individual leaped from the visitor’s gallery, releasing gas-emitting objects. The well-coordinated breach, planned over months by six individuals, aimed to draw attention to concerns such as unemployment, farmers’ struggles, and Manipur violence. During interrogation, the accused revealed their motive was to prompt government discussions on these pressing issues using colored smoke for attention. The House was adjourned amidst the commotion, and Delhi Police are investigating the incident. 4 major actions have been taken by the government so far:
Eight security personnel suspended
The Lok Sabha Secretariat suspended eight security personnel for lapses in the security of Parliament. Those suspended have been identified as Rampal, Arvind, Vir Das, Ganesh, Anil, Pradeep, Vimit and Narendra.
High-level committee formed for investigation
The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the Parliament House security breach case, which will be headed by the DG of CRPF.
Case registered under UAPA
The Delhi Police has registered a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the Parliament security breach incident. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in connection with the incident, the officials said.
5 arrests so far
The Delhi Police team has so far arrested 5 accused in the Parliament security lapse case. However, Lalit Jha, who is believed to be the mastermind of this incident, is still absconding.
Who is BJP MP Pratap Simha, who gave passes to infiltrators
Pratap Simha, 47, is a Lok Sabha MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency. He is a popular BJP leader from Mysuru and has won both the 2014 and 2019 elections on the party ticket. Pratap Simha first worked as a journalist in Kannada Prabha, then decided to enter politics. He has also served as the president of the Karnataka BJP’s youth wing. He contested for the first time in 2014. In 2015, Pratap Simha was appointed as a member of the Press Council of India.
Pratap Simha is identified as a staunch supporter of Hindutva. He was against the government’s decision to celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birthday in Karnataka, saying that Tipu Sultan could only be a role model for Islamists. Earlier this year, Pratap Simha had also lashed out at animal lovers. He had said that when children of people who love dogs are bitten, they will understand the danger of stray dogs.
Pratap Simha has told the Lok Sabha Speaker that the father of one of the accused is from his constituency and he had asked for a visitor’s pass from him. According to a report, Pratap Simha told the Lok Sabha Speaker that he did not have much information about the infiltrators. But one of them, Manoranjan D, was in constant touch with Simha’s PA to get visitors’ passes for him and his friend Sagar.
BJP MPs are always in controversies due to their fire brand statements. He once made a controversial statement saying that every bus stand that looks like a mosque will be demolished. He gave this statement because the bus stand was made in the shape of a dome.
“I have just seen dome-like structures in the shelters, a big dome in the middle and two small domes on either side of it. It is nothing but a mosque. Engineers will have to remove this type of shelter. Otherwise, I will bring the JCB and drop it
key points of the Parliament security breach case
1. The Delhi Police has registered a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for violating Parliament security.
2. The Delhi Police has registered sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespass), 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 186 (obstructing public servant from discharge of his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force) of the IPC and sections 16 and 18 of the UAPA at Parliament Street police station.
3. On the request of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Home Ministry has ordered an inquiry under the leadership of CRPF Director General Anish Dayal Singh into the incident of breach of security of Parliament. The probe committee will include experts and members from other security agencies. The committee will investigate the reasons for the security breach. Further, the committee will identify the lapses and recommend further action. The committee will submit its report to Parliament at the earliest with recommendations including suggestions to improve security.
4. The Delhi Police Special Cell will probe various angles including educational background of the four accused, their involvement in past activities, including any protest or rally and whether they had visited Parliament prior to yesterday’s incident. The probe will also focus on examining their social media activities and history: Sources
5. According to police sources, the conspiracy to breach the security of Parliament was planned and carefully planned by 6 people. Five of the six conspirators have been apprehended by the police.
6. According to sources, all the six accused had planned to break into the house a few days ago. Sources said the accused were in touch with each other through social media platforms and had conducted a recce before coming to Parliament on Wednesday.
7. Initial investigation has revealed that the four knew each other. All of them came in contact with each other through social media and planned the incident. The police have taken Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol and Neelam into custody. Another accused, Vishal, was arrested from Gurugram. All the accused stayed at Vishal’s house before reaching Parliament.
8. Search is on for another accused Lalit. Following the security breach, heavy police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area around Parliament. The Special Branch of Delhi Police has started investigating.
9. The location of absconding accused Lalit was found in Neemrana in Rajasthan. When the team of Special Cell of Delhi Police reached Gandala village of Neemrana, Lalit escaped from there after seeing the police coming. Two teams of Special Cell are only searching for Lalit.
10. During the Lok Sabha proceedings on Wednesday, two young men jumped from the viewers’ gallery. These two men started running from one bench to another. Then a man removed the shoe and sprayed some yellow gas. During this, there was chaos in Parliament. MPs started running here and there. However, some MPs caught hold of them and handed them over to the security personnel.
11. When two people jumped inside the Lok Sabha, the police arrested a man and a woman while protesting outside Parliament. Both were spraying color gas from canisters and raising slogans. The two were identified as Amol and Neelam.
12. During interrogation, Amol revealed that he was upset with issues like farmers’ protests, Manipur violence and unemployment and that was why he did so, police officials said. A police officer said that everyone’s ideology is the same, they took this decision to give a message to the government. Security agencies are trying to find out if the accused were asked by any organisation or individual to do so.
13. Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol, Neelam and Lalit stayed at Vishal’s place in Gurugram on Tuesday night. In the morning they left for Parliament. Sharma earlier worked as a driver in a firm but recently took up driving an autorickshaw, an official said. Neighbours claimed Vishal was an alcoholic and often quarrelled with his wife.
14. Police have also detained Vishal’s wife and her possible role in the incident is being investigated. All six accused wanted to enter Parliament, but only two got the pass. It was Lalit who had made the video of Amol and Neelam releasing smoke from canisters outside the Parliament.
15. Lalit also posted this video on Instagram. Lalit also had the phones of Neelam, Amol, Sagar and Manoranjan. Police said that no phone was recovered from the arrested accused. The police is busy searching for his phone.
16. Neelam is a resident of Jind, Haryana. She told the police that she was studying for competitive exams. Neelam has passed MA, B.Ed, M.Ed, CTET, M.Phi and NET.
17. When the police personnel were taking Neelam into custody, she said, the Indian government is torturing us. When we raise our voice for our rights, we are beaten and put in jail. Unreasonable force is used on us. We do not belong to any organization. We are students and we are unemployed. Our parents work as labourers, are farmers and some are small shopkeepers. Efforts are being made to suppress our voice. Dictatorship will not work.
18. Sources said that both the accused had reached the House using the visitor pass of BJP MP Pratap Simha. Pratap Simha knew Manoranjan D. Manoranjan was from Mysuru, Pratap Simha’s constituency and often visited the MP’s office. Manoranjan introduced Sagar as a friend in the MP’s office and issued him a pass on the pretext of visiting the new Parliament building.
19. The other accused Amol is a resident of Latur, Maharashtra, he is a graduate but unemployed. He used to work as a plumber, but later stopped. He told the police that he bought 5 color release sprays for around Rs 1,200 from Kalyan, Maharashtra.
20. Manaranjan D, a resident of Mysore, Karnataka, did BE (Bachelor in Engineering) in 2016 and used to take care of the family farm. His family said that he had also worked in some firms in Delhi and Bengaluru. Meanwhile, Sagar Sharma (28) had left his home in Ramnagar, Lucknow a few days ago to take part in a demonstration in Delhi. According to the police, Sagar Sharma lived with his sister and parents in a rented house in Ramnagar area and his father Roshan Lal is a carpenter.
21. Amol Shinde had left his house in Delhi saying that he wanted to join the army recruitment. Shinde belongs to the Scheduled Caste community and is a BA graduate. Police said he did odd jobs as a daily wage laborer while preparing for police and army recruitment examinations. Neelam’s family members told that she had earlier also participated in many movements including the farmers’ movement.
22. All the accused were associated with the social media page ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’. All of them met in Mysore about one and a half years ago. After 9 months, everyone met once again and only then a plan was made to spread anarchy in the Parliament.
23. Farmer leaders are angry with Neelam’s arrest. He has demanded the release of Neelam. Azad Palwa of Jind, Haryana threatened to protest and said that if Neelam was not released, she would protest against the United Kisan Morcha. Azad said, there is a lot of unemployment in the country, there is also a lot of dictatorship. This government was formed on the basis of lies. Neelam has not done any wrong. The village people and the United Kisan Morcha are with the daughter.
Parliament’s security protocol changed after smoke attack
From now on, MPs, staff members and people associated with the press will enter the Parliament House from different gates. Apart from this, when visitors start coming again, they will not be able to enter through the old gate. Visitors will now enter Parliament House from the fourth gate. Currently, there has been a complete ban on issuing visitor passes till further notice. Also where visitors sit
That audience gallery will be completely covered with glass so that no one can commit such a security lapse again. The same type of body scanners that are installed at the airport will also be installed in the Parliament House. This will be used for further investigation.
What has come to light in the investigation conducted so far?
1-All the accused were associated with the social media page ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’. All of them met in Mysore about one and a half years ago. After 9 months, everyone met once again and only then a plan was made to spread anarchy in the Parliament.
2-During the budget session in March this year, Manoranjan D had come to Delhi from Bengaluru and did a recce of the Parliament House with a visitor’s pass
3. Sagar came to Delhi from Lucknow in July. But could not go inside the Parliament House. He had done Reiki from outside only.
4. During Recce, Manoranjan D came to know that shoes were not checked properly.
5. On December 10, one by one everyone reached Delhi from their respective states, Manoranjan came to Delhi by flight.
6. All the accused had reached Vicky and Vrinda’s house in Gurugram on the night of 10 December. Lalit Jha also reached Gurugram late in the night.
7. Amol Shinde had brought colored crackers from Maharashtra. Sagar Sharma collected the pass from the PA of MP Pratap Simha from Mahadev Road on 13th December at around 9 am.
8. All the accused were met at India Gate. Here Amol Shinde had distributed colored crackers to everyone.
9. Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D entered the Parliament House at 12 noon on 13 December.
10. Amol and Neelam were creating ruckus outside the Parliament House, when Lalit Jha was making their video. After first connecting with each other through social media, all of them also connected with Signal app. As soon as there was an uproar, Lalit ran away with everyone’s mobile phones.
