NEW DELHI: Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Parliament security breach incident, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Friday said that the Centre talks about national security but both attacks on Parliament took place during the BJP regime.
“Those who are talking about national security do not have the capability to hold a Parliament session. Parliament has been attacked twice and both times BJP was in power,’ Venugopal said addressing a media on Friday.
“The people of India are fed up with unemployment and price rises. The government is not doing anything. Parliament has become a mockery now; they have made it like that,” he added.
He further said that former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi along with incumbent party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, will address a rally in Maharashtra’s Nagpur city on December 28, on the occasion of the grand old party’s foundation day
“A massive rally will be organised in Nagpur on December 28 on Congress Foundation Day. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party MP Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other leaders will participate in it. 10 lakh people will participate in this rally,” he added.
#WATCH | On Parliament security breach incident, Congress MP KC Venugopal says, "…Those who are talking about the national security, they are not in capability to hold a Parliament session… Parliament has been attacked twice, both the time BJP was in power. The people of… pic.twitter.com/t802alEjC3
— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2023
Earlier today, the Patiala House Court here granted seven-day custody of Lalit Jha, the accused in the Parliament security breach case, to Police.
Lalit Jha was brought to the concerned judge of Patiala House Court. He was also provided legal aide counsel, Advocate Umakant Kataria.
The Delhi Police while seeking 15-day custody of Jha told the court, “He is a mastermind. We need his custody to unearth the whole conspiracy and main motive behind the incident. We need to travel and take him to different cities and places. We need custody to recover the mobile devices also.”
However, the court sent him to a seven-day police remand.
The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack. Two people–Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D—jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted anti-establishment slogans before being overpowered by the MPs. Outside it, in another incident, two protestors — Neelam (42) and Amol (25) — protested outside the Parliament with similar gas canisters. However, all four were sent to seven-day custody of Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday.
Last night, senior police officials, including two Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) and Additional Commissioners of Police, interrogated Lalit Jha, during which he narrated the whole incident to officials.
According to sources, during interrogation, it came to light that preparations for the attack were being made months ago. An entry pass was necessary for entry into Parliament; hence, it was not available. Lalit had asked everyone who could arrange the pass so that they could easily enter Parliament.
From a hotel in Rajasthan Lalit was continuously keeping an eye on ongoing developments and police movements through news channels, they said.
According to sources, to unearth more details in the case, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has formed six teams that will go to the locations linked with the accused in Lucknow, Mysore, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana.
The investigation also revealed that two pairs of shoes were made on special order in Lucknow, as the accused discovered that shoes do not get checked in Parliament and this can be an easy way to carry the smoke canister inside the parliament.
Meanwhile, Special Cell will recreate the scene of Wednesday’s Parliament security breach by taking the accused to the Parliament complex on Saturday or Sunday, sources said.
According to sources, the accused will be taken to Parliament to recreate the scene of the crime. This will help the police find out how the accused entered the Parliament building with colour spray and how they executed their plan, sources from the Special Cell said. (ANI)