Karnataka man among 4 held for Parliament security breach; passes issued by BJP MP Pratap Simha recovered

They took out canisters from their shoes and jumped towards the well of the House. They were seated in the visitors’ gallery at the centre of the Lok Sabha.

The House, which had gathered for the Winter Session, was adjourned soon after.

The Delhi Police suspects the involvement of two more people along with the four who have already been held in the Wednesday security breach of Parliament, sources said.

All six were known to each other and were staying in a house in Gurugram, they claimed.

Police sources said that the four accused knew each other and had two other accomplices, who are yet to be traced.

“While four have been held, the fifth has been identified. The two suspects and the four accused stayed in a house in Gurugram and it seems that the incident was planned.

“No mobile phones have been found on the accused and police are looking for their phones,” said a police source.

Also Read: Two persons jump into Lok Sabha from public gallery

The incident

One person was seen leaping over the benches of the Lok Sabha, while another was seen dangling from the public gallery spraying tear gas when Zero Hour was in progress.

The two men, who were also allegedly sloganeering, were overpowered by the Lok Sabha members and the watch and ward staff.

According to Union Minister Bhagwant Khuba’s office, Manoranjan D, a resident of Mysuru, along with Sagar Sharma, a native of Lucknow, jumped into the well of the Lok Sabha.

“Manoranjan helped Sagar Sharma who is originally from Mysuru to get a visitors’ gallery pass from Mysuru BJP MP Pratap Simha’s office,” Khuba’s office told South First.

Two other people were detained by the police from outside Parliament. They were identified as Neelam (42) from Hisar in Haryana and Amol Shinde (25) from Latur in Maharashtra.

The intention of the people behind the act is not yet clear. The police have taken them in custody at Parliament Street Police Station in Delhi and are questioning them.

In a chilling reminder to the Parliament attack 21 years back on the same day (Dec 13), a man jumped from visitors’ gallery into Lok Sabha MPs area. The breach could’ve put lives of MPs in danger. It has exposed chinks in the 56inch armour. The man was a guest of @BJP4India MP. pic.twitter.com/qhPX4C4Dia

— Kunwar Danish Ali (@KDanishAli) December 13, 2023

Parliament security breach: Opposition terms the incident serious

Father condemns the action

Devaraju Gowda, father of Manoranjan, told reporters in Mysuru: “I don’t have any clarification to the questions you (media) are asking. I cannot say anything about it. He is my son Manoranjan.”

“We come from a farmer’s background. We have land, farm and property. We come from a village and built a house in Mysuru. I also made my son pursue engineering,” added Devaraju Gowda.

He further said: “He does not have any bad habits and is not involved in any illegal activities in the last 35 years. He is an organiser to do good for the society. He had plans of doing good to farmers and oppressed families.”’

“I insisted him to take up a job as he is an engineering graduate. He used to say that he should grow to the extent of giving jobs to 100 people. How is it possible? I do not have any idea whether he was involved in studies or other things. As a father, all I can say is that I condemn this act in the Parliament,” added Devaraju Gowda.

Mysuru’s Devaraju Gowda, father of Manoranjan who was among the intruders in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, condemned the security breach in the #Parliament.

“We hail from a farming family. I gave my son an education in engineering. I do not have any idea if he was involved in studies… pic.twitter.com/34lt3xfRK3

— South First (@TheSouthfirst) December 13, 2023

Related: Speaker Om Birla orders high-level inquiry into security lapse

‘Disrupted the proceedings all of a sudden’

Visitors at the public gallery of Lok Sabha said the two protesters who jumped into the House’s chamber were sitting quietly and disrupted the proceedings “all of a sudden”.

An eyewitness who was sitting at the public gallery said that while some Lok Sabha MPs were chasing the protesters, a smoke canister was thrown by one of them inside the House.

“The protesters were not chanting any slogans while being seated at the public gallery and jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber all of a sudden,” the eyewitness said.

“The moment the protesters jumped into the House’s chamber, the MPs tried chasing them. The protesters also threw a smoke canister there. During the incident, we were evacuated as per security instructions,” he said.

According to the eyewitnesses, around 30 to 40 visitors were seated at the gallery of Lok Sabha when the “security breach” took place.

“It was shocking to see such kind of an incident inside the Parliament, despite five layers of security,” another eyewitness said.

Eyewitnesses outside the Parliament claimed that despite having passes, they were not allowed inside.

Narayan Swami, one of the eyewitnesses, claimed that 23 of them had gathered outside the Parliament after acquiring passes to visit the gallery of the House, but they were denied entry.

“We had visitors’ pass but were not allowed entry,” Swami claimed.

(With PTI inputs)