New Delhi: In a shocking incident of security lapse, two young men entered the Lok Sabha chamber on Wednesday and threw canisters that emitted yellow smoke, disrupting the proceedings and causing panic among the MPs.
The duo, identified as Sagar and Amol, were arrested by the security personnel and taken into custody. Four others, who were part of the same group, were also nabbed from different locations in the city.
According to the police, the six accused were connected to a social media page called ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’, which glorified the revolutionary freedom fighter and his ideology. They had met in Mysuru about one and a half years ago and became friends. They met again a few months ago and hatched a plan to create a ruckus in the Parliament as a symbolic protest against the government.
In July, Sagar came from Lucknow but could not enter the Parliament building. He did a recce from outside and noted the security arrangements. On 10 December, they all reached Delhi from their respective states one by one and stayed at Vicky’s house in Gurugram. Late at night, Lalit Jha, who was the mastermind of the plot, also reached Gurugram and briefed them about the plan.
Amol had brought a color bomb from Maharashtra, which he claimed was harmless and only meant to create smoke. They all met at India Gate where they distributed the color bomb to everyone.
They also had visitor passes issued by BJP MP Pratap Simha, who later denied any involvement or knowledge of their intentions. On Wednesday, Sagar and Amol managed to enter the Parliament building and reached the Lok Sabha gallery. They waited for the right moment and jumped from the gallery to the floor of the House. They threw the canisters and shouted slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Bhagat Singh Amar Rahe’.
The MPs and the security personnel were taken aback by the sudden attack and tried to catch them. The Speaker adjourned the House and ordered an inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, Lalit was making a video of the incident from outside the Parliament. As soon as the commotion happened, he ran away with everyone’s mobile phones, which they had used to communicate with each other through the Signal app.
He also deleted the social media page and the chat history of the group. However, the police traced his location and arrested him along with Vicky, Rajesh and Ravi from different places. The police said that the six accused were not affiliated to any political party or organisation and had acted on their own.