Parliament security breach accused did recce during Monsoon session, found visitors' shoes weren't checked: Report

While doing a recce of all entry points of Parliament during the Monsoon Session, Manoranjan, an accused in the Parliament security breach incident, found that frisking of shoes was not part of the security screening at Parliament.

One of the six accused, Manoranjan D, had reportedly found out during the Monsoon Session 2023, that shoes were not checked during the entry into Parliament.

According to PTI, Lalit Jha - said to be the the main conspirator of the security breach - instructed Manoranjan to do a recce of all entry points of Parliament during the Monsoon Session.

"In July, Manoranjan came to Delhi and went inside the Parliament on a visitor pass issued in the name of an MP. There, he got to know that the frisking of shoes does not happen," an officer privy to the investigations told news agency PTI.

Taking advantage of this gap in Parliament's security apparatus, both Manoranjan and Sagar hid hid colour smoke canisters inside their shoes. They then proceed to the visitors' gallery as passes were issued to them by the office of BJP MP Pratap Simha.

The duo then passed the security checks without being detected. Later, they jumped from the visitors' gallery into the chamber and deploying the colour smoke before being overpowered, NDTV reported.

Change in Parliament security set-up

The Parliament security breach incident prompted authorities to carry outa more stringent security screening on Thursday. They asked visiters to remove even shoes despite doing minute frisking of those entering the premises of the campus.

The major change in the security set-up was applied on everyone - from Parliament staff to the media persons allowed inside based on individual passes, news agency ANI reported.

Earlier, the security personnel were not generally focus on removing shoes of those entering the Parliament premises. The new security set-up looks similar to that of the airport where shoes, especially long boots or a few made of leather, are asked to open during security check.

Besides this, the security personnel have applied restriction for media to stand nearly 50-60 metre away from 'Makar Dwar' of the New Parliament building-- one of the six entry gates from where majority of legislators enter.

Five people were arrested on Wednesday over the security breach in the Parliament under charges of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).