Parliament's security staff saved the day 22 years back

When terrorists tried to storm into the House in 2001, they immediately closed all the doors, preventing them from entering inside and create a hostage situation

- UJWAL JALALI

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.