The Union Home Ministry has ordered an inquiry into today’s parliament security breach. A committee has been set up under Anish Dayal Singh, the Director General of the Central Reserve Police Forces, with members from other security agencies and experts.
 
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the ministry said the committee will investigate the reasons for breach in security, identify lapses and recommend further action.

“It will submit its report with recommendations, including suggestions on improving security in Parliament, at the earliest,” it added.

This afternoon, two men had carried in yellow canisters evading all security. During the parliament proceedings, one of them jumped into the Lok Sabha floor from the visitors’ gallery and activated the canisters, releasing thick yellow smoke.

The breach took place despite upgraded security at the new parliament, triggering a flood of questions on lapses and loopholes.

The multi-layered security around the building involves background checks, manual frisking, baggage check-in and other processes conducted by multiple agencies including the Delhi Police and the Central Reserve Police Forces.
 
There is suspicion that the men had hid the yellow smoke canisters inside their shoes, which security personnel frisking them must have missed.

The Opposition INDIA bloc has demanded that Prathap Simha, the BJP MP who signed the pass request for men who breached parliament security, be questioned. They have declared the security breach a terrorist act.

The police have arrested five persons – two from them from inside parliament and two from outside. Another person is yet to be traced.

Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma were the two who had got into the visitors’ gallery. Two others, Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi, were detained from outside Parliament. They were carrying coloured smoke canisters.

Preliminary investigation has indicated that the four people who went to parliament today do not belong to any terror group. Sources said the chances are that they had self-radicalised.

It is parliamentary convention and a constitution requirement that Lok Sabha has a deputy speaker. But this Lok Sabha, which is nearing the end of its tenure, never had one.

Elections were never held for the post, which, by convention, goes either to the Opposition or a supporting party of the ruling alliance.

The dearth was felt today as parliament experienced its biggest security breach since the 2001 terror attack.

This afternoon, two men had carried in yellow canisters into the Lok Sabha visitors’ gallery evading all security barriers.

During parliament proceedings, one of them jumped into the Lok Sabha floor from the visitors’ gallery and activated the canister, releasing thick yellow smoke. The two were arrested, so were three others. One person who was allegedly part of the conspiracy, is on the run.

Later, the Speaker, Om Birla, moved a request to the Home Ministry through the Secretary General for a probe into the incident.

The Deputy Speaker, by convention, heads and manages the security aspects of parliament.

After the 2001 parliament attack — when 15 people, including five terrorists, died — the Joint Parliamentary Committee formed to deal with it, was headed by then Deputy Speaker, Congress’s PM Sayeed.

During Somnath Chatterjee’s tenure as the Speaker, when Charanjit Singh Atwal was his Deputy, many mock security drills were held. So much so it drew flak from the government and MPs, who criticised Mr Chatterjee for allowing security drills when parliament was in session.

In 2007, parliament was shut down and adjourned for a while on the basis of some security-related intelligence inputs from the American consulate in Chennai. The information, however, turned out to be a hoax.

The new parliament building was expected to address all security concerns and meet the parameters for the 21st Century.

But it was found not to even have body scanner machines, which are present in airports of the country. These machines will now be installed in parliament.

Late this evening, the Union Home Ministry ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident following a call by Speaker Om Birla. A full-fledged probe is expected to address the security concerns.

The four arrested include Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, who used yellow smoke canisters inside Lok Sabha, and Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde, who burst red and yellow canisters outside Parliament.
The other accused are Lalit Jha and Vicky Sharma, both from Gurgaon. Jha reportedly shot videos of the other accused deploying smoke canisters outside and fled with their cellphones. He is on the run. Vicky Sharma allegedly sheltered the other accused. He and his wife have been detained. 
The Delhi Police’s investigation so far has found that all the accused were linked to a social media group named Bhagat Singh Fan Club, according to sources.
The accused met in Mysore about one-and-a-half years back and discussed how to go about the plan. Another meeting took place about nine months back when the accused planned their moves.
Sagar Sharma, sources said, came to Delhi from Lucknow this July. During that visit, he could not enter Parliament, but recced it from outside, carefully noting the security checks. To execute the plan for yesterday, the accused reached Delhi this Sunday. They put up at Vicky’s home in Gurugram.
Amol Shinde, it is learnt, got the smoke canisters from his hometown in Maharashtra. The canisters were distributed among the members of the group during a meeting at India Gate.
All the six wanted to go inside Parliament, but only Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan managed to get the passes, sources have told NDTV. The two entered Parliament at noon yesterday.
Shocking scenes were witnessed during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha yesterday when Sagar Sharma jumped out of the visitors’ gallery and into the chamber. He opened a yellow smoke canister and jumped from desk to desk in an attempt to reach the Speaker’s Chair.
As MPs overpowered and beat him up, Manoranjan too opened a smoke canister. He, too, was soon caught. Shortly before the scenes played out inside Lok Sabha, Neelam and Amol burst canisters outside, and raised slogans against “dictatorship”.
Delhi Police’s anti-terror cell is questioning the six accused. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reassured MPs about their safety and said a thorough investigation will take place. The huge security breach took place on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.