SUV forcibly entered Delhi Assembly by breaking the iron gate, three caught, vehicle seized

New Delhi. There was a major breach in the security of the Delhi Assembly on Monday afternoon when a masked person in an SUV broke the gate on the boundary of the complex and forcibly entered inside and also left through the same route after placing a bouquet on the car of the Assembly Speaker. After this high alert was declared. Police later detained three people, including the car driver, from North Delhi and seized the vehicle.

Several police teams and bomb disposal squad thoroughly searched the assembly premises to eliminate the possibility of any kind of threat. After this search nothing suspicious was found in the premises. Forensic experts also examined the bouquet. Police said that the detained people are being interrogated.

Referring to the recent bomb threats received by the Assembly, a police officer said, “It is too early to comment on the motive behind this entire incident. Our teams are interrogating him. The motive is not clear yet. But we are investigating the entire matter from every possible angle.”

“The entire incident happened very quickly, in just five to seven minutes,” the officer said. Officials said that the car with Uttar Pradesh registration number broke gate number 2 at around 2 pm and entered the assembly complex. This car is from Pilibhit area. Official sources said that the car was being driven very carelessly and was coming from Delhi University.

He said that the driver suddenly took a left turn, crashed the vehicle into the main gate, broke the barrier and entered the assembly complex. According to sources, the accused placed a bouquet and a garland inside the Speaker’s official vehicle parked in the verandah of his office in the Assembly complex.

Later, the bouquets and garlands were removed and placed near the verandah due to the possibility of explosive material, Kanchan Azad, joint secretary (press) in the assembly, said, adding, “It is particularly worrying that the car broke through a closed gate and entered the premises and remained parked inside the premises for about five minutes.”

He told that there are six gates in Delhi Assembly. Gate number two is designated as a VIP gate and is opened only during important events, while gate number 1 and the service gate are used for general traffic. According to sources, since it is not the main gate, a CRPF jawan was deployed at this gate. When the House is not in session, security around it remains relatively low.

Police said that most of the CRPF personnel are deployed at the main entrance of the assembly. Another senior officer said that a total of 22 CRPF personnel and 70 to 80 policemen are deployed in the Assembly every day. A Delhi Secretariat official said the incident had raised “serious” security concerns and officials were looking into it as a possible “security lapse”.

Another police officer said, “Nothing suspicious was found. However, forensic teams visited the spot twice to understand the sequence of events and collect evidence from the spot.” Soon after the incident, Delhi Police Chief Satish Golchha and Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ravindra Yadav reached the spot and supervised the investigation. Yadav said police examined footage from CCTV cameras in and around the area to reconstruct the sequence of events.

“Immediately after the incident and based on information received from the authorities, an alert was sent to nearby state and local police stations with the description of the suspicious car,” he said. “Several barricades and checkpoints were set up on roads across the national capital, and the car was seen near the Roop Nagar police checkpoint,” the officer said.

The car driver was trying to escape by driving at high speed, but alert staff stopped him and took him into custody.” Police sources said that a total of three people have been detained and investigation is underway to identify all the suspects. A police officer said, “Three people have been detained from North Delhi. The car has also been seized.” The incident comes days after a bomb incident took place during the recently concluded budget session of the Assembly.