Fourteen Opposition MPs have been suspended from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha today for disrupting House proceedings, a day after a major security breach in parliament last afternoon.

Of the 14 suspended MPs, nine are from the Congress, two from the CPM, one from the CPI, and two from the DMK.

Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Md Javed, VK Shreekandan, Benny Behanan, DMK MPs K Kanimozhi and SR Parthiban, CPM MPs PR Natarajan and S Venkateshan, and CPI MP K Subbarayan are among the suspended.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for “unruly behaviour” for the rest of this session. However, he refused to leave the House despite being suspended and the matter has been sent to the House’s Privileges Committee after a motion by the BJP’s Piyush Goyal.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal called the suspension a “horrible, undemocratic move”.

“A horrible, undemocratic move to suspend opposition MPs for demanding an answer from the government on the shocking security breach in parliament yesterday. On the one hand, five MPs are suspended for demanding accountability, while on the other, there is no action against the BJP MP who facilitated the entry of the miscreants. This is a murder of democracy. The BJP government has reduced parliament to a rubber stamp. Not even the pretence of a democratic process is left,” he wrote on X.

Earlier in the day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a resolution to suspend five Congress MPs – TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden, Jothimani, Ramya Haridas, and Dean Kuriakose – for the rest of the session, reported news agency PTI.

“I move the following that this House having taken misconduct of TN Prathapan, Hibi Eden, Jothimani, Ramya Haridas, and Dean Kuriakose Kuryakus in utter disregard to the House and the authority of this Chair and having been named by the chair… to be suspended from the service of the House for reminder session,” the resolution read.

B Mahtab was chairing the proceedings.

The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am tomorrow.

Parliament resumed today amid tensions over a massive security breach a day earlier when two men jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour and burst smoke canisters. The PM was not in Parliament yesterday since he was attending the swearing-in ceremonies of the BJP’s two new chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

At least six people were involved in the security scare inside and outside Parliament yesterday. Two men popped smoke canisters inside the House, while a man and a woman burst them outside. All four have been arrested, as have been a man and his wife for sheltering them at their Gurgaon home.

The four inside have been identified as Sagar Sharma, D Manoranjan, Neelam Devi, and Amol Shinde, while the Gurgaon man has been identified as Vicky Sharma. A sixth man is on the run.

The four who deployed smoke canisters have been charged under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in addition to relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code. The six currently in custody, including the wife of Vicky Sharma, are being interrogated by Delhi Police’s anti-terror cell.

Meanwhile, the scare forced authorities to tighten security measures in the new parliament, including temporarily banning visitors and restricting non-essential personnel, including the media. Seven Lok Sabha staff have also been suspended following the breach.

The Opposition is up in arms over the incident and has demanded a probe into BJP MP Prathap Simha since the visitors’ passes were issued to the intruders after a request from Mr Simha’s office.

Yesterday’s breach coincided with the 22nd anniversary of the terror strike on the old Parliament building, in which two Pakistan-based groups attacked and killed nine people, including eight security staff.

The mastermind behind the Parliament smoke scare may well be Lalit Jha – on the run and last seen in Neemrana, a fort-town 125 km from the national capital – Delhi Police sources have told NDTV. 

Sources have claimed a larger conspiracy behind the Wednesday afternoon attack, in which two men popped yellow smoke canisters inside the Lok Sabha, and a man and a woman opened red and yellow canisters, while shouting slogans against dictatorship, outside Parliament.

Initial inquiries suggest the date of the security breach – December 13 – was fixed on instructions from Lalit Jha. The date was significant because it was the 22nd anniversary of an attack on the old Parliament building by Pakistan-based terror groups, in which nine died.

Jha, a resident of Kolkata and a teacher by profession, was influenced by revolutionery Shaheed Bhagat Singh and wanted to do something that drew the country’s attention to him, sources said.

There is no connection, so far, with any known terror group, sources also said.

Police sources said Jha had summoned his accomplices – identified as Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan (inside the Lok Sabha) and Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde (outside Parliament), as well as Vicky Sharma, at whose house they met – to Gurugram yesterday morning, before the incident.

READ | On Recce, Parliament Breach Accused Knew Where To Hide Smoke Cans

All six reportedly wanted to be inside Parliament to pop the smoke canisters together but only Sharma and Manoranjan managed to secure visitors’ passes; these were issued by request from BJP MP Prathap Simha’s office. Mr Simha, the lawmaker from Mysuru, has denied any connection, apart from asking the Lok Sabha Secretariat, which is supposed to screen visitors, to issue passes. 

READ | “Keep Video Safe, Ensure Coverage”: Breach Accused Told NGO Aide

Unable to be on the inside, sources said Jha, who is from Bihar, filmed the smoke scare outside Parliament on his mobile phone and uploaded it to social media before fleeing the scene. He also shared the clip with the founder of a Kolkata-based NGO to ensure media coverage, sources told NDTV. The founder does not seem to have had prior knowledge of Jha’s smoke protest plan. 

READ | Engineer To E-Rickshaw Driver: Who Are Parliament Breach Accused

Jha was, however, listed as the General Secretary of this organisation, which is being investigated, police have said.  He also grabbed the mobile phones of his four accompliaces before he fled. Police believe there may be further evidence on those devices, which Jha might try to erase. 

The others connected to the incident – Sagar Sharma (from Lucknow), Manoranjan (from Mysuru), Neelam (from Hisar), and Amol (from Latur), as well as Vicky Sharma – have all been arrested.

They told the police their actions were motivated by issues like unemployment and the ethnic violence in Manipur, and that they hoped to catch MPs’ attention and force a debate on these issues.

READ | Parliament To Get Body Scanners, Security Rules Changed After Breach

Opposition MPs have demanded a thorough investigation into this incident. Parliament security protocols have been revamped and tightened, and visitors have, for now, been banned from entry.

The four persons arrested from parliament yesterday after a massive security breach, have been sent to police custody for seven days for questioning. Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, who were caught inside the Lok Sabha, and Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde — arrested outside Parliament — have to be questioned in detail, the Delhi Police contended.

Five persons were arrested yesterday for the security breach in the afternoon in which two men got into the Lok Sabha and let off thick yellow smoke from canisters they smuggled in.  

Sagar Sharma from Lucknow and D Manoranjan from Mysuru, had smuggled in smoke bombs which they let off inside parliament. The thick yellow smoke had caused panic for a while. The two were soon caught and overpowered by MPs and parliaments Watch and Ward staff.

The other two, unable to get visitors’ passes, were shouting slogans outside parliament, carrying the smoke bombs.

All four have been charged under tough anti-terror law UAPA and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.  

Their accomplice Vishal, in whose house they stayed before reaching Parliament, was detained later from Gurugram. Lalit Jha, a key conspirator and the alleged mastermind, is on the run.

In court today, the police contended that the incident resembled a terror attack and questioned the motive. “Was the purpose of the incident only to express one’s point or to carry out some major incident… It has to be investigated whether any terrorist organisation is involved in this entire incident,” they told the court.

The court was also told that the accused had probably smuggled in the smoke canisters in their shoes. The men had purchased two pairs of shoes from Lucknow and brought them here, the police said.

The canisters were purchased from Mumbai. The accused were also found carrying some pamphlets, the police said.

Presenting the accused before the special judge Hardeep Kaur, the police had sought 15 days’ custody. The judge, however, granted a week’s time.