New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed a major security breach on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, as two men jumped down from the gallery and hurled gas-emitting objects into the House.
Soon after the breach, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla informed the House that four persons had been arrested - two from inside the House, and two from outside Parliament in connection with the incident.
The two intruders who managed to jump into Lok Sabha and burst gas cans have been identified as Sagar Sharma, son of Shankarlal Sharma, and D Manoranjan, son of D Devaraju Gowda. Two more protesters, a man named Amol Shinde, from Latur (Maharashtra), and a woman named Neelam, from Hisaar (Haryana), were held near Transport Bhavan, which is near the Parliament complex.
They too opened the gas canisters that emitted smoke outside the Parliament building and shouted: "Tanashahi Nahi Chalegi" (dictatorship will not be allowed), "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Jai Bheem, Jai Bharat.".
Speaking to ETV Bharat, father of Manoranjan, one of the two intruders, said he condemned what his son had done. "We come from a farmer family. I condemn whatever has happened in the Parliament. My son is a B.E. engineer. He is a good person and does not have any bad habits. He always wants to do good for society...We do not know how he picked this up. We really do not have any clue," Devaraju said.
Soon after the incident, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora visited the Parliament to take stock of the situation. The area around the Parliament was turned into a fortress following the incidents with the deployment of police and paramilitary. The Delhi Police's Special Cell has been tasked with the investigation of both the incidents, according to officials. Forensic teams visited the Parliament to gather scientific and physical evidence.
The incidents came on a day when the nation is observing the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. Terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed outfits attacked the Parliament complex on this day in 2001, killing nine people.
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