In a massive security breach in the Parliament, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha well from the visitors’ gallery while the proceedings were going on today, 13 December. The two men released yellow-coloured smoke from canisters after jumping into the well. At the same time, two other persons, a man and a woman, released coloured smoke from similar cans outside the parliament and chanted various slogans. The invasion of the parliament took place on the anniversary of the parliament attack in 2001. The intruders who jumped into Lok Sabha were identified as Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma.
It has now been revealed that Manoranjan D – one of the accused – hails from the Mysuru constituency of the BJP MP Pratap Simha. It has been revealed he used a visitor’s pass issued by Simha to enter the visitors’ gallery in Lok Sabha. According to media reports, he had been trying to get the visitor’s passes from the MP for the last three months. This implies that the planning for this attack was going on for months.
Meanwhile, MP Pratap Simha met Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. He clarified his stand with the authorities in this meeting as the visitor pass recovered from one of the intruders was signed in the name of the BJP MP.
According to sources, Manoranjan D, one of the accused, introduced co-accused Sagar Sharma as a friend to the MP’s office and got passes issued to them on the pretext of watching the new Parliament. On Wednesday, a total of three passes were issued on the recommendation of MP Pratap Simha’s office. Out of these three persons, a woman had to return because she came with her child whose name was not mentioned on the visitor’s pass. The woman did not have any connection with the two accused intruders.
Security breach in the parliament
The incident took place at 1 PM during the zero hour in the Lok Sabha, just before the lunch break. When Khagen Murmu, BJP MP from West Bengal, was raising some points regarding his constituency, suddenly a commotion was heard in the background. When the Sansad TV switched to the view of the entire hall, a man could be seen who had already jumped from the gallery and was on the benches.
He then started to proceed towards the front of the hall, jumping from bench to bench. People in the Lok Sabha were heard shouting ‘pakdo, pakdo’ (catch him), before the speaker hurriedly adjourned the house. The live stream was cut immediately after that.
A similar scene was unfolding outside the Parliament premises at the same time. Two other protestors including a woman named Neelam Azad and a man were staging a demonstration releasing yellow and pink smoke from cans. The entire incident involves a total of four accused at least. All four have been detained by the police.