NEW DELHI: Twenty-two years have passed since India witnessed a dastardly terror attack on its supreme legislative body -- Parliament -- in which 9 people, including six Delhi cops and two Parliament security personnel, were killed while 18 were left wounded.
India, making decisive strides under the Prime Ministership of late Atal Bihar Vajpayee, was about to complete its second year in the 21st century. The government in the national capital 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 hostage crisis, which lasted for several days, finally ended with India accepting their demands and releasing the three terrorists in return for its 176 citizens.
Two years, later none would have thought that the country was awaiting yet another terror attack that will engrave in the minds of the people of the country, especially the personnel of the Delhi Police who had been the first respondents. During the Kandhar hijacking, ordinary citizens were held hostage and this time the terrorist had planned to hold several Indian Ministers as hostage.
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. A text was written on that fake sticker which read: "India is a very bad country and we hate India. We want to destroy India."
These five terrorists carrying AK47 rifles, grenade launchers, pistols, and grenades, breached through multiple security cordons placed around the Parliament complex. "They were driving hastily and accidentally crashed into one of the vehicles of the Vice President's cavalcade," the then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Ashok Chand told the New Indian Express.
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 and fired at her 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 Parliament," the former DCP Chand 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, Chand 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 first examining the scene of heinous crime. "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 as a 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 cowardly attack spread like wildfire and the whole capital was stunned. Gradually, 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 this 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.
Though the attack was contained in 30 minutes by the security forces, yet, the Watch and Ward staff of Parliament, played a vital role in saving precious lives.
The Watch and Ward staff, which was created way back in 1929, provided and maintained Protective, Preventive, and Pro-active Security within the Parliament House Estate
As soon as the attack began, the staff members, immediately 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 Parliament Security Service.