Smoke, chaos inside Parliament on 2001 terror attack anniversary

Two men walked through three layers of security with smoke canisters stuffed in their shoes, vaulted into the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery, and sprayed smoke inside the hallowed chambers in a daring breach of security that triggered nationwide alarm and brought back memories of the 2001 terror strike on the highest seat of Indian democracy.

- Saubhadra Chatterji, Smriti Kak Ramachandran

The two men – Sagar Sharma, 27, andManoranjan D, 34 – shouted slogans and released yellow smoke before being overpowered by parliamentarians and dragged away by security staff. The chamber reconvened within 45 minutes but the brazen incursion on the anniversary of the 2001 attack sparked troubling questions about laxity in security protocols and glaring gaps in lessons learned from the strike that killed 13 people.

“The incident that happened today is a topic of concern for all of us and is serious as well... A high-level investigation is being done and accordingly, action will be taken,” said Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. 

The Union Home Ministry ordered a probe headed by the Central Reserve Police Force chief Anish Dayal Singh into the breach. 

Sharma and Manoranjan gained access to the visitors’ gallery using guest passes signed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Pratap Simha, according to a preliminary investigation. Outside Parliament, two other people Neelam Singh, 37, and Amol Shinde, 24 shouted slogans such as, "Bharat Mata ki jai" and "Jai Bhim". They were later detained by the police.

These four people an e-rickshaw driver, a farmer, a government job aspirant, and a daily wage laborer - along with a fifth absconding conspirator identified as Lalit Jha, hatched a plan for the first such attack on Parliament to air their grievances about the government, unemployment, and price rise, said police officials.

"She was worried about unemployment... She used to tell me that she is so highly qualified but has no job, so it is better to die..." said Singh's mother Saraswati Devi.