NEW DELHI: Twenty-two years have passed since there was a terror attack on Parliament in which 9 people, including six Delhi police personnel and two security personnel were killed while 18 were left wounded.
It was a cold winter morning. The day was Thursday, December 13, 2001. Five terrorists of the Pakistan-based militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) infiltrated the premises of Parliament in a White Ambassador bearing fake stickers of the Home Ministry. The text on the fake sticker read: “India is a very bad country and we hate India. We want to destroy India.”
The five terrorists, carrying AK47 rifles, grenade launchers, pistols, and grenades, breached through multiple security cordons placed around Parliament complex. “They were driving hastily and accidentally crashed into one of the vehicles of the Vice President’s cavalcade,” a retired Delhi Police Special Cell officer, who was leading the investigation, told the newspaper.
As they further drove the car inside, one of the Central Reserve Police Force personnel, late Constable Kamlesh Kumari Yadav, was the first security official to approach the terrorists’ car. Realising something suspicious, she ran back to her post to seal gate no 1 where she was posted. With their cover effectively blown, the terrorists opened fire on Yadav 11 times.
Yadav 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. After killing Yadav, the terrorists moved forward, firing indiscriminately. As soon as the attack began around 11.30 am, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police was alerted. “I was at my office and as soon as we received information, I rushed with my team to the Parliament,” the retired officer said.
The anti-terror unit of the Delhi Police, Special Cell, which was set up in 1986 to prevent, detect, and investigate cases of terrorism, organised crime and other serious offences in the national capital, took charge of the investigation. Recalling the 21-year-old attack, the officer said when he reached Parliament premises, the attack was still going on.
“When I reached there, the situation was still volatile. However, by the next few minutes, the CRPF had neutralised all the five terrorists,” he said. As soon as the attack ended, the sleuths of Special Cell began investigating by preliminary examination of the crime scene.
“I saw one body of a terrorist near the gate of Parliament. He was having packets of almonds and other dry fruits which possibly meant that they had planned to take the senior government functionaries hostage,” he said. “Other terrorists were in possession of cellphones, AK-47s, IEDs, grenades, and other incriminating material,” the former cop added.
The news of the attack spread like wildfire, the capital city was stunned. With each passing hour, every vehicle in the city went off the road. The Special Cell with the help of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) 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 connection.
Later, courts acquitted two among them, while Afzal Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, 12 years after the attack in February 2013. Hussain served his sentence in jail. The attack was contained in 30 minutes by the security forces, with the Watch and Ward staff at the Parliament complex playing a vital role in saving precious lives.
The Watch and Ward staff, which was created way back in 1929, provides and maintains protective, preventive, and pro-active security within Parliament House Estate. As soon as the attack began, Parliament staff members immediately closed all the doors of the Parliament building, preventing the terrorists from entering the House. Later, in April, 2009, the Watch and Ward were renamed Parliament Security Service.