New Delhi, April 6 – In a major security breach at the Delhi Assembly, a masked man drove an SUV through one of the boundary gates and placed a flower bouquet in the Speaker’s vehicle parked on the porch before fleeing, triggering a high alert on Monday afternoon.
Police later detained three people, including the driver, and seized the vehicle, a Tata Sierra, from north Delhi’s Roop Nagar.
The incident occurred at 2.10 pm when Speaker Vijender Gupta was in his office at the Assembly, which is secured daily by over 100 security personnel from the Delhi Police and the CRPF. The entire incident happened very quickly, in just five to seven minutes, an official said.
Police said that nothing suspicious was found on the Assembly premises after multiple police teams, along with a bomb disposal squad, conducted a thorough sweep of the area to rule out any threat. Forensic experts also examined the bouquet.
Police sources said that the accused, identified as 37-year-old Saravjeet Singh, a resident of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, is believed to be a “follower of the kisan andolan (farmers' agitation)”.
Uttar Pradesh Police reached the residence of Singh in Pilibhit and questioned his family members, who claimed he was suffering from mental health issues and was undergoing treatment.
Officials said that a high-level committee has been formed to probe the security breach, and the entire matter will be supervised by a Special CP rank officer.
The incident comes close on the heels of bomb threats received by the Assembly during the recently concluded budget session.
The police alleged that during the incident, the accused drove the vehicle, bearing a Pilibhit registration number, in a dangerous manner with apparent intent to run over security personnel on duty, thereby endangering their lives. They said only Singh was inside the SUV.
According to eyewitnesses, Singh rammed Gate No. 2 at high speed. The gate opens towards Shamnath Marg in Civil Lines. He allegedly placed a bouquet and a garland inside the Speaker’s official car. The accused also briefly sat inside the vehicle, sources said.
The police said the Speaker’s car was unlocked at the time, as the driver had gone to the Speaker’s room to keep his belongings.
According to sources, since Gate Number 2 is not the main gate, only one CRPF personnel was present there. The security is relatively less around it when the House is not in session.
“A case has been registered at Police Station Civil Lines under appropriate sections of law, including attempt to murder, criminal trespass with preparation to commit offence, use of criminal force against a public servant, and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, along with other relevant provisions pertaining to obstruction of public servants in discharge of duty,” the police said.
Police sources said that while it is too early to comment on the motive behind the entire incident, Sarabjeet Singh had shared several posts on social media platforms expressing support for farmers who lost their lives during the agitation in 2021 against the farm laws at Delhi’s borders. Some of this content was later deleted.
There are six gates at the Delhi Vidhan Sabha. Gate No. 2 is designated as the VIP gate and is opened only during important events, while Gate No. 1 and Gate Number 6 are used for regular access.
Initial probes suggested Singh is mentally unstable, the sources said, adding that teams are questioning him and the motive is not clear.
“But, we are investigating the entire matter from every possible angle,” a police officer, who requested anonymity, said and mentioned the recent bomb threats sent to the Assembly.
After placing the bouquet, the accused exited the premises through the same Gate No 2. A pan-Delhi hunt was launched, and at around 4:15 pm, the vehicle was intercepted in the area of Roop Nagar, teh police said.
Singh was apprehended along with two other persons at a police picket near a nala in the Roop Nagar area in north Delhi. All individuals are currently being questioned, and further investigation is underway.
The police said he left Pilibhit on April 1 and had been missing from home for five days before the incident.
“According to preliminary findings, the accused Sarabjeet left his home on April 1, and he called his family members only once since then. He travelled to Bareilly on April 2 and later reached Delhi on Monday. He did not inform his family about his whereabouts or the purpose of his travel. Family members have stated that his behaviour becomes uncontrollable during periods of illness,” a police officer said.
Another senior officer said that a total of 22 CRPF personnel and 70 to 80 police personnel are deployed at Vidhan Sabha every day.
The incident raised "serious" security concerns, with authorities treating it as a potential "security breach", a Delhi Secretariat official said.
Delhi Police Chief Satish Golchha and Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ravindra Yadav reached the site soon after the incident and supervised the investigation.
Yadav said that the police checked CCTV camera footage in and around the area to reconstruct the sequence of events.
“Alerts were flashed to adjoining states and local police stations, with details of the suspected car. Several barricades and pickets were erected on roads in the entire national capital, and the car was spotted near the Roop Nagar police picket. The car driver was trying to flee by overspeeding, but the alert staff stopped him and detained him,” the officer said.
Forensic teams and police checked the seized vehicle. They will also examine his mobile phone and the connected email address to understand if he has links with any suspicious people or activity.
The police are also checking the entire route he had taken.
“A complete CCTV trail will be checked. We are leaving no stone unturned to investigate the entire matter. We are also checking his call records to know if he was in contact with anyone suspicious. Teams are probing the incident from all angles,” a source said.