Former Lok Sabha Secretariat secretary general PD Thankappan Achary has said someone has to take responsibility after two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery and released coloured smoke in a major security scare on December 13, the 22nd anniversary of 2001 parliament attack.
“It’s a major security lapse and someone has to take responsibility for it,” Achary said, as proceedings were briefly interrupted and a widely shared video clips showed some members chasing a man wearing a blue jacket as he jumped from one desk to the other.
Achary, who held the post in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha, said the people who come to see the proceedings of the House are issued passes only after they are endorsed by an MP.
“When an MP endorses a visitor, their credentials are verified by the intelligence agencies in order to issue a pass,” Achary added.
The incident should not have taken place, as Parliament has a multi-layer security in place, he said.
There are several checkpoints, X-ray machines and metal detectors. The new Parliament has modern security gadgets for frisking and also keeping a close watch on the complex.
“There used to frequent meetings with officials of the security to ensure, nothing of this nature is repeated again. Today’s incident needs to be thoroughly probed given the high-tech security we have in place,” Achary said, referring to the 2001 attack.
In 2001, five terrorists entered the Parliament complex in a car with red beacon and a forged home ministry sticker. When alarm was raised, they turned back, got out of the complex and opened fire.
At the time, over 100 members were present in Parliament. The firing lasted for more than 30 minutes, eight security personnel and a gardener dead were killed and so were the terrorists.
The attack led to tightening of security norms. Though the country now has a new Parliament complex, next to the old one, the security breach is similar to that of 2001.
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