Parliament Security Breach: Opposition to demand statement from Home Minister

New Delhi: Opposition leaders met in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, in Parliament to discuss the Parliament security breach.

Opposition leaders will demand a statement from the Home Minister on the security breach issue in both houses and opposition leaders will also demand the resignation of the Home Minister, according to sources.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Thursday that opposition parties have decided to raise the issue of security breaches strongly in both houses of Parliament today.

"There should have been proper arrangements before shifting to the new parliament building. Such a big incident has happened, and till now there have been no statements from the PM and the Union Home Minister. There should be a discussion on this incident...There have been intelligence failures. PM Modi and Amit Shah could have appraised our MP Hanuman Beniwal, who caught canster," said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

"If the security of the parliament is not assured, how will they assure the security of the nation? We have been raising the issue of unemployment," added Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that this is a severe security breach and is shameful for the country.

"This is a severe security breach and is shameful for the country. Despite three levels of security, there have been such incidents. Home Minister Amit Shah must clarify...What did we learn from the incident that happened 22 years ago?...," said Priyanka Chatyurvedi.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut expressed serious concern over the security issue of parliament.

"If there could be a security breach in the Parliament building then you can understand the situation at the country's borders. The country must have understood yesterday how China's army entered Ladakh, how intruders from Pakistan entered Kashmir, and how terrorists came to Manipur...Our Parliament building has the strongest safety arrangements, but some men entered and jumped into the House causing chaos. PM and Home Minister are silent; they were busy in the elections campaign for a month..." said Sanjay Raut.

Speaking on the issue, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said "Two people entered Parliament on the pass of a BJP MP...They had a hand to hand with the MPs...The govt has not even given a reply on this issue..."

Meanwhile, NGO founder Nilaksha Aich who was sent a video of the Parliament security breach by the accused Lalit Jha, who is currently absconding, has said that Jha never mentioned his whereabouts to him adding that the accused always kept his details shady.

In a telephonic conversation with ANI, Nilaksha Aich who runs an NGO working on tribal education in West Bengal's Purulia district said that accused Lalit Jha was a member of that organisation.

"It was around 12:50 yesterday, he asked me to see the media coverage. I did not know anything as such as I was attending college at that time. After I returned home I saw the whole coverage. He asked me to keep the video with me. He is not a close friend of mine, I have an NGO of mine that works with tribal development. He was a member of an organisation. I came across him in April," Nilaksha Aich told ANI.

Asked about the accused behaviour's pattern, Aich said," He never said anything about anything himself to me. He has always kept his details shady. He never mentioned his whereabouts who are in his family or not. I have not seen him being violent personally."

Earlier, a case has been registered against the accused under multiple relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Parliament Security breach incident, police said on Thursday.
A case under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), Section 153 (want only giving provocation with an intent to cause riot), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from the discharge of his duty) of IPC.

"Under UAPA, cases have been registered under sections 16 and 18 at Parliament Street Police Station. The case is being transferred to the Special Cell for further investigations," police said.

Police sources informed that the the absconding accused in the Parliament security breach case, Lalit Jha also sent a video of the incident to his NGO partner after the four accused committed the act.

So far, four people have been arrested in the case. Police informed that two people, one identified as Vicky and his wife are being interrogated.
The accused identified as Lalit Jha is absconding.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also ordered an inquiry into a Parliament security breach incident on Wednesday. "On request from Lok Sabha Secretariat, MHA has ordered an enquiry of parliament security breach incident. An Enquiry Committee has been set up under Anish Dayal Singh, DG, CRPF, with members from other security agencies and experts," the Home Ministry said.

On the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament terror attack, a major security breach occurred when two intruders entered the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor gallery during Zero Hour. In a security breach in Lok Sabha, two men jumped into the House from the visitors' gallery, holding canisters in their hands. They released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.