M A I N   N E W S

Parliament security being revamped
Intelligence warns of terrorist attack
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 30
A thorough revamp of Parliament House security is being undertaken following intelligence agencies’ warning of a possible terrorist attack by desperate ultras in the wake of the failed Agra summit.

An exercise is afoot to make sure that terrorists are not allowed to launch their attack inside Parliament House premises as it would give them the kind of international publicity they have been trying especially after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf returned empty handed from Agra, well-placed sources told The Tribune today.

And believe it or not, the July 25 murder of Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi has contributed to the security agencies’ worries. According to the sources, the security managers of the Capital are disturbed as there is a feeling among them that the atmosphere of political acrimony and intrigues in the wake of Phoolan’s murder can be exploited by terrorists.

It is understood that the security agencies’ worries were conveyed to Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi by Delhi Police Commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma when he met Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi a day after Phoolan’s murder. Sharma was closeted with the Speaker for nearly an hour.

Significantly, the Speaker held a meeting with the Parliament security officials on Saturday and discussed a whole gamut of security-related issues with them regarding Parliament House as well as the annexe.

The following specific measures are likely to be taken:

* Making the procedure for issuance of Parliament parking sticker more stringent and further limiting the number of such passes.

* Focussing on access control and further tightening gate security.

* Screening all occupants of cars entering Parliament House and insisting on all occupants producing a proper identity card as against the present practice wherein nobody bothers to check the occupants as long as the car is displaying a valid parking sticker.