New Delhi: The shocking scenes in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, have put under the spotlight lapses in parliament’s security and the serious consequences they may have. Manoranjan D from Mysuru found a key gap in parliament’s security apparatus that he and his associate, Sagar Sharma, exploited to create chaos in the House on Wednesday.
Manoranjan revealed during questioning that he attended proceedings during the Budget session in the old parliament building. This was a recce to understand the security checks in place. During this visit, he found that while visitors to parliament are frisked multiple times, their shoes are not checked.
On Wednesday, Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma hid colour smoke canisters inside their shoes. They then proceed to the visitors’ gallery with passes issued by the office of BJP MP Pratap Simha. They passed the security checks without being detected. Later, they jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the chamber and released the colour smoke before being overpowered.
Notably, yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack that claimed nine lives. Incidentally, Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had threatened an attack on or before December 13. Many have pointed out how the security apparatus could not prevent the breach despite being on high alert.
