NEW DELHI: Twenty-one years have passed since India witnessed a dastardly terror attack on its supreme legislative body Parliament in which nine people, including six Delhi cops and two Parliament security personnel, were killed and 18 were injured.
India, making decisive strides under the leadership of the late Atal Bihar Vajpayee, was about to complete its second year in the 21st century. The government was headed by late Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Just two years back in 1999, Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 on its way to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked by the terrorists, seeking the release of three dreaded terrorists. The life of 176 citizens was on stake so India finally accepted their demand and released the terrorists.
Two years later, another attack engraved the minds of the people, especially the Delhi Police personnel, who had been the first respondents. During the Kandhar hijacking, citizens were held hostage and this time the terrorists planned to hold several Indian Ministers hostage.
On December 13, 2001, five terrorists of the Pakistan-based militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed infiltrated the premises of Parliament in a White Ambassador with fake stickers of the Home Ministry. A text was written on that which read, “India is a bad country and we hate India. We want to destroy India.”
The terrorists carrying AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers and pistols breached through multiple security cordons. “They accidentally crashed into one of the vehicles of the Vice President’s cavalcade,” said the then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Ashok Chand.
A CRPF personnel, the late Constable Kamlesh Kumari Yadav, was the first one to approach the car. Realising something suspicious, she ran back to seal gate no 1 where she was posted but with their cover effectively blown, the terrorists opened fire on Yadav 11 times.
She died on the spot, averting a suicide bomber among the terrorists to execute his plan. She was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest peacetime Gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police was alerted about the attack. “I was at my office and as soon as we received information, I rushed with my team to the Parliament,” said the former DCP Chand.
The anti-terror unit of the Delhi Police — Special Cell —which was set up in 1986 to prevent, detect, and investigate cases of terrorism, took charge of the investigation. Recalling the attack, Chand said when he reached the Parliament premises, the attack was still on. “The situation was still volatile, however, the CRPF neutralised all the five terrorists in some time,” he said.
As soon as the attack ended, the sleuths of Special Cell examined the scene of heinous crime. “I saw one body of a terrorist near the Parliament gate. He had packets of almonds and other dry fruits which possibly meant that they planned to take the senior government functionaries as hostages,” he said.
“Other terrorists had cellphones, AK-47s, IEDs, grenades, and other incriminating material,” the former cop added.
The news of the attack spread like wildfire and the whole capital was stunned. Gradually, with each passing hour, every vehicle in the city went off-road. The Special Cell with the help of the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing jointly cracked the case within 72 hours. Four people -- Mohammed Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain, Afsan Guru alias Navjot Sandhu, and SAR Geelani -- were arrested in this connection. Later, the courts acquitted two of them, while Afzal was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, 12 years after the attack in February 2013. Hussain served his sentence in jail.
Though the attack was contained in 30 minutes, yet, the Watch and Ward staff of Parliament played a vital role in saving lives. The staff provided pro-active security within the Parliament House Estate.
As soon as the attack began, the staff closed all the doors of the Parliament building, thus preventing the terrorists from entering the house. Later in April 2009, the Watch and Ward were renamed to Parliament Security Service.
They sought the release of three terrorists
Just two years back in 1999, Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 on its way to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked by the terrorists, seeking the release of three dreaded terrorists. The life of 176 citizens was at stake so India finally accepted their demand and released the terrorists.
CRPF constable 1st to be attacked
A CRPF personnel, the late Constable Kamlesh Kumari Yadav, was the first one to approach the car. Realising something suspicious, she ran back to seal gate no 1 where she was posted but
with their cover effectively blown, the terrorists opened fire on Yadav 11 times.